TORONTO, April 29 (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Canada ( RY )

said on Tuesday that it would abandon its sustainable

finance goals, citing recent changes to Canada's competition act

that require companies to prove their environmental claims.

"We have reviewed our methodology and have concluded that it

may not have appropriately measured certain of our sustainable

finance activities as presented on a cumulative basis," Canada's

biggest lender said in its 2024 sustainability report published

on Tuesday.

RBC had committed to facilitate C$500 billion ($361.19

billion) in sustainable finance by 2025. Its refreshed climate

strategy is an "action-oriented plan," it said.

The bank said last year's changes to Canada's Competition

Act that target greenwashing and environmental claims limited

the bank from sharing certain sustainability disclosures and the

progress being made.

"Recent amendments to Canada's Competition Act limit the

information we can share on certain sustainability disclosures

and the progress we are making and have restricted our ability

to publicly report on several metrics," the bank said in a

statement.

The bank provided a methodology to calculate its energy

supply ratio, the ratio of financing for low-carbon energy

projects compared with their financing for fossil fuel projects,

but was unable to disclose the number.

The bank said it would continue to monitor and report

the ratio internally.

RBC along with US peers Citigroup ( C/PN ) and JPMorgan ( JPM )

agreed to disclose the metric following an agreement

with the

New York City Comptroller

.

RBC and other big banks have quit the Net-Zero Banking

Alliance, a United Nations-sponsored initiative set up by Mark

Carney, who won an election on Monday and will stay on as

Canada's prime minister.

Climate advocacy groups said the onus is now on Carney to

improve sustainable and climate financing goals in the financial

sector.

"The banks are not showing leadership ... so the ball is

in Carney's court to step in and take action," said Richard

Brooks, climate finance director with Stand.earth, a

Toronto-based advocacy group.

Campaigners worry that banks are seizing on a shift in the

political climate, particularly under U.S. President Donald

Trump, to dilute commitments to act quickly on decarbonising

their portfolios.

($1 = 1.3843 Canadian dollars)