JPMorgan Chase to stop loans for fossil fuel drilling in the Arctic
By John Bowden - 02/24/20 08:18 PM EST
JPMorgan Chase announced Monday that it is planning to end loans to companies pursuing fossil fuel drilling in the Arctic Circle, according to reports.
The Washington Post reported that the bank said that it will soon complete a 2017 commitment to help fund $200 billion in projects to help meet the U.N.'s sustainable development goals, as well as $50 billion for "green initiatives."
The bank also plans to phase out all existing and future loans to the coal industry by 2024, and end the financing of oil and gas extraction projects in the Arctic, a region vulnerable to the effects of climate change.
JPMorgan will continue, however, to do business with coal companies that have alternative revenue streams, a move that along with its decision to continue supporting fossil fuel projects in the mainland U.S. drew criticism from environmental advocates.
“It seems like weak beer to me, basically just copying Goldman,” Bill McKibben, a Middlebury College professor of environmental studies and a vocal advocate for divestment from fossil fuels, told the Post. “But it shows that even the biggest bank on Earth feels citizen pressure, so we will keep supplying that!”
One analyst at the investment firm Raymond James pointed out to the Post, however, that such loans to projects in the Arctic are rare, and that ending support for such projects would have little effect on the company's finances.
“Oil and gas activity in the Arctic is so slim anyway that lending for such activity is essentially meaningless,” analyst Pavel Molchanov told the newspaper.
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