Sinead cruise, Lawrence White and Simon Jessop

LONDON, (Reuters) – Central bank policymakers are exaggerating financial risks from climate change. This was the opinion of a senior HSBC banker responsible for sustainable investments. These remarks drew criticisms from climate activists.

According to the bank, his opinions did not represent those of HSBC.

Stuart Kirk (HSBC’s head of responsible investments) wrote that unsubstantiated, shrill-partisan, selfish, apocalyptic threats are ALWAYS false on a slide that accompanied his presentation to a conference held in London. He included quotes from organizations such as the United Nations or Bank of England, warning of the dangers.

Kirk explained that such warnings indicated Kirk and HSBC are spending a disproportionate time dealing with climate risks, in comparison to other challenges.

He said that inflation is coming down and that he was being instructed to look at it again. “The proportionality of what’s happening in 20-30 years, I think, is totally out of control,” he stated to the Financial Times conference, which uploaded a recording.

Nicolas Moreau (Chief Executive at HSBC Asset management) told Reuters through a spokesperson Kirk’s comments did not reflect the views of the company.

In an email, Moreau stated that HSBC considers climate change to be one of the greatest emergencies on the planet.

According to the company’s website, HSBC Asset Management has $640 Billion in assets.

Kirk didn’t respond to an email request for comments sent by LinkedIn.

Activist groups have criticized Kirk’s comments and urged HSBC to decrease their support for the fossil fuel industry.

Jeanne Martin, Campaign Manager at Responsible Investment NGO Share Action tweeted: “This should raise red Flags to clients of HSBC which care about net-zero.”

Beau O’Sullivan is a Senior Campaigner on Bank on our Future. Beau called these comments “regressive, grossly flawed,” adding that climate change was posing a significant risk to financial assets.