A majority of JPMorgan Chase shareholders voted against a resolution asking the financial institution to phase out its financing—including loans, bonds and underwriting—of companies engaged in fossil fuel expansion. However, 8% of shareholders supported the resolution, sending a signal to JPMorgan Chase leadership that continued investments in fossil fuels are driving the climate crisis and putting communities, investors and the global economy at risk. The vote comes after more than 1,300 scientists signed an open letter calling on shareholders of JPMorgan Chase to vote "yes" on Proposal 6.
JPMorgan Chase has recklessly provided more than $434 billion in financing for fossil fuel companies since the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015, including $62.67 billion to the top 20 companies engaged in the greatest amount of fossil fuel expansion. Meanwhile, the United States experienced 18 separate major climate- and weather-related disasters in 2022, each of which caused more than $1 billion in damage. Many of these disasters—including droughts, wildfires and intensified storms—bear the clear fingerprints of climate change. Altogether the 18 events led to the deaths of 474 people and cost an estimated $165 billion, making 2022 the third most costly year for U.S. weather and climate disasters since 1980.
Below is a statement by Kathy Mulvey, accountability campaign director at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
“JPMorgan Chase shareholders voted to continue funding an outdated and dangerous energy system that puts people and the planet at risk. Unchecked investment in the expansion of fossil fuels is a shortsighted decision that will harm the environment, communities and the company's long-term financial stability. As one of the largest financers of the fossil fuel industry, JPMorgan Chase is enabling the fossil fuel industry to drive the climate crisis. JPMorgan Chase and other financial institutions must instead align their actions with what science says is needed to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, protect public health, and facilitate a swift and equitable transition to a clean energy economy. Further delay is hurting marginalized communities first and worst, and costing all of us dearly.”
The full letter from scientists to JPMorgan Chase shareholders can be found here.