Six Democratic senators in Congress want an explanation from JPMorgan Chase (JPM) about why the firm is retreating from its nearly two decades of pledges to help mitigate climate change.
“This reversal represents a long-term threat to the environment — JPM has financed over $430 billion in fossil fuel projects since 2016, more than any other financial institution in the world — and raises questions about whether you have been misleading investors and the public,” wrote U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Ed Markey (D-MA), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Bernie Sanders (D-VT), and Peter Welch (D-VT) in a July 9 letter sent to JPM CEO Jamie Dimon.
For instance, JPM has made several binding commitments on climate and environmental issues, including those to the 2015 Paris Agreement and the Climate Action 100+, as well as joining the Equator Principles in 2006, a set of bare minimum industry standards that help financial institutions address environmental, social, and governance risks in their work, according to their letter.
However, in an April 8 letter that Dimon sent to shareholders, he “appeared to suddenly reverse those commitments,” the senators wrote.
“Your full set of comments indicated JPMorgan was walking back its role in addressing climate change, waiting instead for “proper government action,” wrote the lawmakers. “Surprisingly, as the CEO of the nation’s largest bank, you appear to have lost your faith in the private sector’s ability to solve problems.”
The senators also said that Dimon’s comments appear to indicate JPM isn’t planning to make new climate and environment commitments in the future, and raises questions about whether and how JPM will meet its past assurances.
“In fact, you indicated that JPM had reversed some key commitments already, explaining that: JPMorgan Chase recently exited Climate Action 100+ and the Equator Principles,” according to their letter.
Additionally, the senators pointed out that JPM’s actual record on climate issues “was always questionable,” noting, for example, that the firm lent over $40 billion to fossil fuel companies in 2023, with nearly $15 billion going toward new fossil fuel expansion.
Such action, they wrote, makes JPM the number one financer of fossil fuel companies last year.
“This is disappointing, raising questions about the impact of these policy changes moving forward,” wrote the senators, who demanded that JPM provide answers to several questions they posed about the firm’s climate and environmental commitments.
“You owe Congress and the public answers,” they wrote, requesting that Dimone provide answers to their questions by July 24.
Their letter has been endorsed by Public Citizen.