The world’s biggest banks increased their financing of “extreme fossil fuels” by 11 per cent last year, committing $115bn to fund projects in tar sands, Arctic and ultra-deepwater oil extraction, liquefied natural gas export, coal mining and power.

Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto Dominion Bank and JPMorgan Chase were the three leading banks for financing extreme fossil fuels last year, according a report produced by a group of environmental pressure groups, according to Financial Times.

While the financing of extreme fossil fuels declined in 2016, when the Paris climate accord was signed by over 190 countries promising to slow climate change, it picked up again last year.

The research found that the main US and Canadian banks increased their financing in this area while European, Chinese, Australian and Japanese banks decreased it. It also found that the main driver of the increase was higher funding for tar sands extraction and pipeline projects, which more than doubled last year to $47bn. JPMorgan, the biggest US bank by assets, more than quadrupled its financing for tar sands projects, according to the research.