Royal Bank of Canada has eliminated at least three senior climate, sustainability, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) executive positions as part of an internal reorganisation that establishes a new vice presidency of public policy.
According to sources familiar with the restructuring, the eliminated positions include the vice presidents of climate strategy, ESG risk, and sustainability strategy and performance.
Spokesperson Andrew Block confirmed that the bank has transferred its remaining climate team into a newly established Public Policy group while moving its sustainability reporting function into the finance division. Block noted that approximately half a dozen roles were cut due to functional duplication, adding that employees transitioning into the new public policy division will hold an expanded mandate with climate and sustainability remaining primary focus areas.
To lead the new unit, the lender appointed Emily Head as Vice President of Public Policy. Head, a nearly 17-year veteran of the bank with a background in ESG law who most recently served as vice president and associate general counsel, will oversee a broad regulatory portfolio encompassing artificial intelligence, payments, fraud and scam prevention, climate, and sustainability. She reports to Kirsten Sutton, US-based Senior Vice President of Global Government Affairs and Public Policy.
The restructuring reflects a broader retreat from standalone ESG targets across North American financial institutions amid shifting political and economic priorities in the United States and Canada. In Washington, US President Donald Trump has withdrawn from international climate accords and proposed deregulating oil and gas drilling, while Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has prioritised domestic oil and gas development to diversify energy export markets and insulate the Canadian economy from US tariffs.
RBC—one of the world’s largest financiers of fossil fuels with substantial US operations—previously withdrew from a major global banking sector climate coalition last year and abandoned its formal sustainable finance targets in 2025, citing amendments to Canada’s Competition Act that restricted sustainability disclosures.
While Block stated that embedded teams across RBC’s business lines continue to grow to support clients navigating the energy transition, Richard Brooks, Climate Finance Director at environmental advocacy group Stand.earth, warned that consolidating specialist climate roles into a broader public policy unit risks eroding technical expertise and diluting institutional focus.
