Coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, continues to raise billions of dollars worth of funding, despite promises by the industry to reach climate neutrality by the middle of this decade, Bloomberg reports.

A study by the German NGO Urgewald shows that since the beginning of 2019 and until now, commercial banks have directed over $1.5 trillion in loans to the entire coal chain. The findings come just three months after dozens of banks joined Mark Carney’s initiative to achieve zero emissions from the financial sector, according to Agerpres.

Although most banks agree that it is necessary to fight global warming, few of the world’s major banks are willing to turn down very profitable customers in the fossil fuel sector. Urgewald’s study shows that the list of major coal-financing banks includes names such as Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. Also, Chinese banks dominate the top when it comes to the subscription of tight capital by the coal industry.

“What we see here is just the tip of the iceberg. It’s a clear signal that companies are not making the transition,” said Urgewald founder, Heffa Schuecking.

The publication of this study comes at a time when the world is burning more coal than ever before, as the economy recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, prompting fears that 2022 could be the year when some climate initiatives could slow down.

However, there are some signs that there has been a decline in funding in 2020 and 2021, but it is unclear whether this is the beginning of a trend or just the impact of the pandemic on the economy, says Urgewald’s director of financial research Katrin Ganswindt.

There are some concerns that thermal power plants could become a class of assets set aside in the green transition as countries prioritize renewables. But Urgewald’s report shows that banks and asset managers continue to see profit opportunities in thermal power plants.

“Large sums of money are being given to an industry that is the main enemy of the climate,” says Ganswindt.

The report also shows that institutional investors have combined stakes of more than $1.2 trillion in the coal industry. Leading the way are BlackRock Inc. and Vanguard Group Inc. funds, each holding more than $100 billion worth of shares and bonds, even though both are members of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative.