This wasn’t the welcome to Rhode Island that JPMorgan & Chase envisioned.
Protesters gathered recently at the bank's soon-to-open branch near Brown University in Providence. They cited the March 2019 “Banking on Climate Change” report from a coalition of environmental organizations that named JPMorgan Chase the world’s top financer of fossil fuel industries.
Among 33 global banks examined, the four largest fossil fuel financers from 2016 through 2018 were from the United States: JPMorgan Chase, $195.6 billion; Wells Fargo, $151.6 billion; Citibank, $129.5 billion; and Bank of America Corp., $106.7 billion.
Collectively, the 33 banks provided $1.9 trillion in fossil fuel funding over the three-year period, according to the report.
The big banks concede they are still heavily steeped in the financing of fossil fuels, but note that most of the world’s energy needs are still met that way.
Still, all said they have earmarked money to support what so far has been a gradual transition to cleaner, renewable energy.
Environmentalists, however, insist there is not enough time for half-measures. Drastic changes, they say, must be made in coming years to avoid catastrophic global warming effects.
“If we don’t transition the economy in the next 10 years, the catastrophes that have already begun are just going to grow geometrically,” said Brian Wilder, lead organizer of Climate Action Rhode Island, one of the groups involved in the July protest.
Wilder said activists are planning more local demonstrations against JPMorgan Chase, including “civil disobedience.” He wouldn’t discuss details.
“Groups like ours … have been doing the same things around the country,” Wilder added. “If these groups … stick with it, it will affect [the banks’] business. When it affects their business, that’s when they’ll change their business model.”
JPMorgan Chase, which plans to open a string of retail branches in Greater Providence by the end of next year, said it earmarked $200 billion in 2017 for clean energy financing by 2025 – and the bank has used more than half of it.
“Many companies today are taking significant steps to invest in lower-carbon fuels … and we are leveraging our business expertise to help them achieve these goals,” the bank said in a statement.
Bank of America, the largest bank in Rhode Island in terms of market share of deposits, said it is “aggressively promoting initiatives that accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.
“Our multibillion-dollar Environmental Business Initiative is supporting low-carbon, sustainable business activities and, since 2007, we have deployed more than $126 billion to these efforts,” the bank said in a statement.
Wells Fargo, which has a commercial and private banking presence in Rhode Island, said it has devoted $200 billion for a “sustainable finance commitment,” according to a statement.
Scott Blake is a PBN staff writer. Contact him at Blake@PBN.com.
