This report does not
assess bank financing of clean energy. While we recognize the huge importance
of ramping up finance for clean technologies and appreciate that many banks
have set targets for funding these sectors, the climate crisis demands not just
that banks seize the many opportunities for profit in the clean energy
revolution, but also that they be prepared to fundamentally redraw their
business models away from financing dirty energy. These banks’ clean financing
is in any case swamped by the volumes they funnel into fossil fuels.
While we strongly
support efforts to reduce demand for fossil fuels, restricting supply also has
a vital role to play.9 Reckless expansion of fossil fuels threatens to further
lock in our fossil fuel dependence, and lowers fossil fuel prices.10 The
cheaper fossil fuels are, the harder it will be to ensure their rapid
replacement by clean alternatives. Moreover, a just transition for the workers
and communities that are currently dependent on fossil fuel extraction is far
more likely under a managed decline of mining and drilling, rather than
allowing these industries to face sudden closures due to policy changes, market
failure, or climate catastrophe.
The
Paris Agreement calls for finance flows to be “consistent with a pathway toward
low greenhouse gas emissions.” This 2019 fossil fuel finance report card shows
that the big global private banks are clearly failing miserably at this goal —
despite the fact that many of these banks claim to support the Paris Agreement.
Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is perhaps the most hypocritical in
this regard, as he has declared his support for the Paris Agreement and his
opposition to President Trump’s attempt to withdraw from the accord, while at
the same time presiding over a bank that is financing climate change more than
any other in the world, and which has shown no indications of having any plans
to change course.
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