JPMorgan To Stop Financing Fossil Fuel Projects In The Arctic

JPMorgan Chase & Co. JPM will stop giving out direct loans for fossil fuel extraction projects in the Arctic, the company announced Monday.

What Happened

The New York-based banking giant would also stop giving out loans to companies who make the majority of their revenues from coal, the Washington Post reported.

Existing loans would be phased out by 2024, JPMorgan said, according to the Post.

JPMorgan added that it would have fulfilled a 2017 commitment to finance projects meeting the United Nations' sustainable development goals with $200 billion "five years early." The funding would include a "$50 billion" investment dedicated to "greener initiatives."

Why It Matters

According to the Rainforest Action Network, JPMorgan is the world's largest financier of fossil fuel projects "by far," followed by Wells Fargo & Co. WFC and Citigroup Inc. C.

"[As] the world's worst banker of the climate crisis, JPMorgan Chase bears a unique responsibility among private-sector banks to sharply reduce its fossil finance," RAN said in a statement. "These new policies do not meet that responsibility."

The organization further added that the campaign targeting JPMorgan would continue until it brings more substantial change to its policies on financing projects known to be damaging the environment.

JPMorgan economists warned the bank's clients in a note last week that there could be "catastrophic outcomes" from climate change if no action is taken, the BBC reported.

Other major financiers, including Goldman Sachs Group Inc.. GS and BlackRock, Inc. BLK, have announced similar policies aimed at curbing fossil fuel extraction in the Arctic recently.

Price Action

JPMorgan's shares closed 2.69% lower at $132.16 on Monday. The shares traded 0.7% higher at $133.1 in the after-hours session.