Under intense pressure from the Rainforest Action Network, JPMorgan Chase has become the latest bank to back away from coal.

 

JPMorgan Chase International Plaza. Credit: David R. Tribble/Wikimedia Commons

JPMorgan has promised a transition away from financing for coal mining companies, and an end to the financing of new coal mines -- responding to a global call by Anote Tong, the president of the climate-vulnerable small island nation of Kiribati, for a global moratorium on new coal mines.

JPMorgan's policy also includes a prohibition on financing new coal-fired power plants in high income countries, and a recognition of the global commitment in Paris last December to limit climate change to 1.5 degrees.

The commitments follow public pressure from climate activists as part of a campaign launched by Rainforest Action Network (RAN) last summer, the latest in a series of RAN campaigns to hold U.S. banks accountable for their financing of the coal industry. Now, five out of the six largest U.S. investment banks have committed to move away from financing coal mining, including Bank of America, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.

RAN acknowledges that the policy change is a step in the right direction in terms of moving away from some of the dirtiest carbon-based fuels; however, with the historic global Paris agreement last December, much more is needed to reach the goal of keeping climate change to 1.5 degrees.

"In order to have a chance at stabilizing the climate, we need financial institutions to follow these commitments on coal mining with further steps to end coal financing altogether," said Ben Collins of RAN. "It's time for the financial sector to step up and lead the just transition we need to a clean, renewable future."

For more:
- see this article

© 2016 FierceMarkets, a division of Questex, LLC. All rights reserved.

http://www.smartgridnews.com/story/jpmorgan-caves-coal/2016-03-09