Chase announces plan to align with Paris Agreement, but....

Amidst all the chaos and anxiety of 2020, a remarkable thing happened this week: JP Morgan Chase committed to align its business model with the Paris Climate Agreement — including all the loans it makes.

JPMorgan Chase has announced it is adopting a financing commitment that is aligned to the goals of the Paris Agreement. As part of its strategy, the firm intends to help clients navigate the challenges and capitalize on the long-term economic and environmental benefits of transitioning to a low-carbon world.

It’s a testament to the years of activist pressure that Chase has finally moved. You can read all about the announcement here.

It’s a significant step, especially for the world's largest funder of fossil fuels. But as our country burns and the Amazon dies, we need leaps, not steps. 

This new commitment doesn’t stop Chase from providing loans to coal companies. It doesn’t stop Chase from doing business with tar sands companies that are violating Indigenous peoples’ rights. It doesn’t stop Chase from loaning to fossil fuel companies that are still aggressively expanding their operations.

Chase’s announcement is a big deal — but it is nowhere near enough.

Can you take 3 actions today to demand that JPMorgan chase follow up this announcement with immediate action?

1. Call Chase CEO Jamie Dimon at 212-270-1111. There’s a short call script you can use here.
2. Email Chase executives and board members to demand that they follow up this announcement with immediate action. There is a template email and the email addresses of Chase senior decision makers here. All you need to do is copy and paste the message, and email it to these top two decision makers at the world’s largest funder of fossil fuels.
3. Click here to Tweet at Chase and spread the word about the announcement — and its shortcomings.

There is no doubt that the only reason Chase is starting to act on climate is the pressure it’s feeling from the climate movement. Now we just need to keep it up until it’s actions match it’s lofty words.

-Stop the Money Pipeline

More information: 

https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201006006106/en/JPMorgan-Chase-Adopts-Paris-Aligned-Financing-Commitment

https://stopthemoneypipeline.com/chase-climate-announcement/

Ask Chase CEO to stop funding fossil fuels

Tuesday is JPMorgan Chase’s Annual General Meeting, which is the bank’s most important shareholder meeting of the year. Over the last few years, climate activists have asked Chase to align its business model with the Paris Agreement and stop violating indigenous rights. They’ve also pushed to get climate denier Lee Raymond kicked off the board.

This year, we can’t go out and protest outside the meeting, but we can still get CEO Jamie Dimon’s attention by flooding his phone and inbox with calls and messages asking him to take climate action. So, this Monday or Tuesday, take a few moments to call or write.

Call: 212-270-1111

Call Script: “I’m calling because I want to ask that JPMorgan Chase aligns its business model with the Paris Agreement goals of limiting global warming to below 1.5 degrees. I hope that JPMorgan Chase will phase out all business with the fossil fuel industry.”

After you call, please consider filling out this survey to let us know how it went.

You can also send Jamie Dimon a personal email urging him to end the bank’s funding of the climate crisis. Jamie Dimon’s email addresses are: jamie.dimon@jpmchase.com and executive.office@chase.com.

- The Years Project

#stopfundingFossils

CLIMATE STRIKE ACTION: Call #1 Investor in Fossil Fuels!

Millions of people around the world are following youth leaders and taking action for the climate during Climate Strike Week, September 20-27. This is a global movement of tremendous importance for people and the planet. You can take action too! Read on!

Green America, as part of the international Fossil Banks, No Thanks campaign, is continuing to pressure JPMorgan Chase to stop financing the fossil fuel industry.

By far, JP Morgan Chase is the biggest funder among the 33 banks assessed– including the expansion of the fossil fuel sector through ultra-deep-water drilling, Arctic drilling, tar sands extraction, fracking, and funding for more liquefied natural gas terminals.

Since the adoption of the Paris Agreement, JPMorgan Chase has become:

The top banker of fossil fuels, outpacing the second highest bank funder by nearly 30%.
The biggest funder for the top 100 companies responsible for expanding fossil fuels, outpacing the second highest bank funder by nearly 70% putting $196 billion into fossil fuels from 2016 through 2018.

Join Climate Strike week by making a phone call to JPMorgan Chase today, urging the bank to halt its disastrous financing of the climate crisis. Here’s all you need:

Dial any and all of these numbers:

212-270-1111 for the office of JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon

212-270-5097 for the office of Matthew Arnold, Global Head of Sustainable Finance

Sample Message:

Hello, my name is ____________. I’m calling JPMorgan Chase today out of my deep concern about the escalating climate crisis and the need for JPMorgan Chase to stop its financing of the fossil fuel sector. I am opposed to investment in the fossil fuel industry and the abuse of human rights and Indigenous People’s rights that routinely accompany the extraction of fossil fuels. What are the bank’s plans to reverse its bankrolling of the climate crisis?

If you bank at Chase you could include: Given the bank’s record, I am planning to switch to a better financial institution that supports people and the planet.

Thank you for making this call TODAY – please share this action widely!

- Green America 

Tell Chase: Stop financing fossil fuels

Next week, one of the largest banks in the world -- JPMorgan Chase -- will meet with its investors. We’ll be there on their doorstep with activists from all over the country with one clear demand: stop financing climate catastrophe!

Chase is the #1 banker of fossil fuel projects in the world. That means you can thank them for the floods, fires and storm damage you and your neighbors have experienced in recent years. And it’s getting worse - fast.

We have less than 12 years to slam on the brakes before we reach catastrophic levels of climate change. The only way to achieve that is to immediately STOP investing in any new fossil fuel projects. Tell Chase to STOP bankrolling the climate disaster NOW.

There’s no time to waste, and our message has never been more urgent. We have less than a week to reach our goal of delivering 25,000 messages directly to Chase and its investors.

 

Just this week, UN scientists announced that we are on the verge of a mass extinction crisis over the next 30 years - and that WE will all be impacted. Chase can’t ignore these alarm bells - and neither can we.

Chase’s annual shareholder meeting is a place where the company lays out its vision for the coming year, talks about their last year of business, and forecasts the finances of the company. It’s the perfect place for us to announce that business as usual is OVER.

We know that Chase isn’t planning to talk about climate change at their annual meeting, so we’re bringing your voice, and thousands like yours, to be sure their shareholders hear you loud and clear.

Sign on to our public letter calling on Chase bank to #DefundClimateChange.

There’s no time left to lose: the time is now to end financing of fossil fuels. The power is ours to make a difference.

- Ruth Breech. Rainforest Action Network

More Information:

Banking on Climate Change: Fossil Fuel Finance Report Card 2018

JPMorgan Chase’s Big Banking of Extreme Fossil Fuels – A Banking on Climate Change Case Study

US Banks Pledged to Fund Renewable Energy, But They Still Spend Way More on Fossil Fuels

Ask Big Banks to Defund Climate Change

It is simple. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has given us a timeline. We only have 12 years left to take bold and sweeping action on climate.

If we do not take action, we will experience the worst impacts of climate change. We've already gotten a taste of what's to come: rising sea levels, record breaking droughts, hurricanes, and storms.

We know what needs to happen. We must stop fossil fuels from being extracted and burned and keep our forests intact. To do that, we have to push financial institutions to stop funding these projects once and for all.

This year, we're making a New Year’s resolution to take action on climate. Join the Rainforest Action Network in demanding big banks #defundclimatechange.

- Ruth Breech, Rainforest Action Network

Click here to send the following message to big banks 

It has been proven time and time again that fossil fuels and deforestation is exacerbating climate change. The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has made it clear: we must stop funding these projects to avoid catastrophic climate change.
We are demanding that you finally end your financing of climate change and fossil fuels.
It is time to stand on the right side of history.

https://act.ran.org/climateyearofaction?utm_campaign=cyoa2_t3&utm_medium=email&utm_source=rainforestactionnetwork

Force Wells Fargo and other #BackersOfHate to stop funding immigrant detention

"Established 1852. Re-established 2018?"1

Petition to Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and BlackRock: "Stop profiting off of immigrant detention and the separation of families. Immediately divest from private-prison companies and cease offering lending facilities to companies like GEO Group and CoreCivic." Add your name:

Wells Fargo is so desperate to reform its scandal-plagued image that it recently resorted to an ad campaign with the tagline: "Established 1852. Re-established 2018."1 Wells Fargo executives probably don't want people to hear that the "re-established" company is currently getting rich off of Trump's heartless policy of separating families and detaining immigrants in private prisons.2 Wall Street banks like JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock and Wells Fargo are heavily invested in awful, private-prison companies and make loans that keep them in business.3 That's why we're teaming up with our friends at Presente and Moms Rising to demand that #BackersOfHate divest and stop funding Trump's racist policies. This Wednesday, I am delivering petition signatures directly to Wells Fargo headquarters in San Francisco to make clear that profiting from the pain of immigrant communities is morally wrong and bad for business.  Force Wells Fargo and other #BackersOfHate to stop funding immigrant detention. Click here to sign the petition. Who wins by putting more and more immigrants in jail? Big banks, that's who. Private prison companies, like CoreCivic and GEO Group, are lucrative businesses don't just enrich investors, they lobby for more punitive policies towards immigrants and citizens alike. Sixty percent of Trump's incarcerated immigrants are held in private prisons built by companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group.4 Trump's policies could grow the multi-billion dollar private-prison industry by more than 580 percent in just one year. No wonder JPMorgan Chase alone has increased its private-prison holdings by a shocking 9,600 percent since Trump took office. Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and BlackRock all hold stock in companies like CoreCivic and GEO Group – and these companies' stock prices have skyrocketed in recent weeks.5 The big banks also keep GEO Group and CoreCivic in business with lucrative loans. Those two companies are set up as real estate investment trusts, which allows them to dodge some taxes but prevents them from holding a lot of cash. That means they can't pay bills without frequent loans – loans that make a lot of money for the banks. In 2017, GEO Group and CoreCivic paid their lenders $217 million.6 All Wells Fargo and others would have to do is stop making these loans, and CoreCivic and GEO Group could no longer afford to keep people in cages. Force Wells Fargo and other #BackersOfHate to stop funding immigrant detention. Click below to sign the petition: https://act.credoaction.com/sign/wells_fargo_immigration?t=7&akid=30140%2E3130208%2EITSgJ- Corporate #BackersOfHate, especially Wells Fargo which is trying to polish its corporate image, need to hear that Americans won't tolerate them overlooking basic morals in the desperate pursuit of profit. They must immediately drop their stock in private prisons and cease offering lending facilities to the companies responsible for carrying out Trump's cruel immigration policies. -Nicole Regalado, CREDO Action Add your name: References: James Peltz, "Wells Fargo launches ad campaign to leave accounts scandal behind. Not everyone is buying it," The Los Angeles Times, May 9, 2018. Make the Road New York and Center for Popular Democracy, "Private Detention Industry Expected to Swell from 'Zero Tolerance; at the Border," June 26, 2018. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid.

Tell JPMorgan Chase: Stop financing private prisons and immigrant detention centers

Petition to all major banks that finance or profit from private prisons and immigrant detention, including JPMorgan Chase, reads: “Stop financing corporations like CoreCivic and The Geo Group that build and manage private prisons and immigrant detention centers and make enormous profits from the suffering of immigrants and communities of color." Add your name:

Who wins when the Trump regime fails to reunite families it tore apart at the border? Banks like JPMorgan Chase. JPMorgan Chase is one of the biggest investors in CoreCivic and The Geo Group, private prison corporations that build and manage hundreds of horrific immigrant detention centers across the country.1 Trump's mass incarceration and deportation agenda is a boon for their business and the banks that finance them stand to make millions from the pain of immigrant communities. To end Trump's war on immigrants, we must expose and hold accountable the financial institutions that are enabling and profiting from his cruel and racist regime. Speak out now to demand that JPMorgan Chase stop financing Trump's hate. Tell JPMorgan Chase and all major banks: Stop financing private prison and immigrant detention corporations. Click here to sign the petition. Public pressure grows stronger by the day to free and reunite the families Trump separated at the border and imprisoned in inhumane detention facilities. But his cruel administration could not care less. It just missed its second court-imposed deadline to reunite the more than 2,500 children it ripped away from families at the border, and has no plans to roll back the racist policies that created this crisis in the first place.2 Instead, Trump and his craven lapdogs in Congress are trying to ramp up these attacks. ICE locked up more than 30,000 undocumented immigrants a day in inhumane and overcrowded detention centers in 2016.3 Trump’s hateful administration just increased ICE’s incarceration quota to 80,000 immigrants a day and is planning to expand the department’s workforce and infrastructure to reach that daily goal.4 Congressional Republicans are working hard to make this xenophobic nightmare a reality. They just advanced dangerous bills in both chambers of Congress that would expand ICE and CBP and hand Trump tens of millions of dollars to build his southern border wall and more ICE run prisons.5,6 If Trump and his heartless party succeed at passing these bills, private prison corporations, and the banks that finance, them will make huge profits. Immigrants will suffer even more. Private prison corporations CoreCivic and The Geo Group are notorious for exploiting immigrant detainees for cheap labor and forcing them to live in inhumane conditions.7 Nine detainees have filed a class-action lawsuit against The Geo Group for allegedly forcing more than 50,000 immigrants imprisoned in its detention centers to work for less than one dollar a day.8 The U.S. Bureau of Prisons canceled its contract with a CoreCivic prison in New Mexico after reports of its cruel treatment of sick inmates gained national attention.9 Now, ICE has contracted with the same prison to detain immigrants, without demanding any changes to the institution’s practices. That is unacceptable. Trump and Republicans’ immigration crackdown means more immigrant arrests, more taxpayer funded corrupt detention facilities and more business for morally bankrupt private prison corporations. We must do everything we can to stop their xenophobic agenda. If we join together now and use our power as consumers and customers to force big banks to get out of the mass incarceration and deportation business, we can block Trump and Republicans' racist plans. That's why we're teaming up with our friends at Make the Road New York, Mom’s Rising, Presente and other members of the Families Belong Together Corporate Accountability Coalition to make sure JPMorgan Chase feels the full force of our resistance. Will you add your name now? Tell JPMorgan Chase and all major banks: Stop financing private prison and immigrant detention corporations. Click the link below to sign the petition. https://act.credoaction.com/sign/jpmc_backersofhate_2018?t=7&akid=29488%2E3130208%2Ej02KNm - Nicole Regalado, CREDO Action Add your name: References: Katie Lobosco, "Immigrant advocates attack banks for financing private prisons," CNN, July 26, 2018. Patrick Greenfield, "Family separation: hundreds of migrant children still not reunited with families in US," The Guardian, July 26, 2018. Madison Pauly, "The Private Prison Industry Is Licking Its Chops Over Trump’s Deportation Plans," Mother Jones, Feb, 21, 2017. Ibid. Niv Elis, "House panel advances homeland security bill with $5 billion in border wall funding," The Hill, July 25, 2018. Ali Rogin, John Parkinson and Elizabeth Brown-Kaiser, "Government shutdown looms with impasse over border wall," ABC News, July 30, 2018. Madison Pauly, "How a Private Prison Company Used Detained Immigrants for Free Labor," Mother Jones, April 3, 2017. Ibid. Pauly, "The Private Prison Industry Is Licking Its Chops Over Trump’s Deportation Plans."

Ask Chase not to bankroll the Line 3 Pipeline

In the next week, JPMorgan Chase has a big decision to make. Should it continue a line of credit for the energy giant, Enbridge and their Line 3 pipeline, or finally be on the right side of history?

JPMorgan Chase is a lead bank on a $625 million line of credit to Enbridge which is about to expire. It’s time that Chase makes the decision to cut their ties with dirty pipeline companies and starts to get serious about Indigenous rights and climate change.

Call JPMorgan Chase today and tell it to say NO to Enbridge. 212-270-1111

Line 3 will cut through 5 Ojibwe nations in Minnesota despite fierce opposition from these Native communities. Indigenous leaders, environmentalists and local landowners stand united against the pipeline. Even Minnesota’s own commerce department said the state doesn’t need the project.

It’s simple. Giving an open credit line to Enbridge will ensure more pipelines are built. With more pipelines we see more spills, worsening climate change and abuses to Indigenous rights.

Indigenous leaders and local communities have been taking action against Enbridge's most recent pipeline, Line 3.

The Line 3 pipeline, will cut through 5 Ojibwe nations in Minnesota, despite fierce opposition from these Native communities. Indigenous leaders, environmentalists and local landowners stand united against the pipeline. Even Minnesota’s own commerce department said the state doesn’t need the project. Enbridge is persisting, backed by Wall Street.

JPMorgan Chase is the top US bankroller of extreme fossil fuels, tar sands, and tar sands pipelines. Today, it has the opportunity to do the right thing and stop funding Indigenous rights abuses and climate chaos — but it will only do so if we call in and demand it.  

It’s time to get Chase to finally stop funding the climate crisis. Call 212-270-1111

Click here to share the details of your call with the Rainforest Action Network.

- Ruth Breech, Rainforest Action Network 

Here’s a simple script you can use for calling JPMorgan Chase

“Hello, I’m (name) from (city, state, or country) and I’m calling to urge JPMorgan Chase stop profiting from climate change and to act responsibly. JPMorgan Chase is the top US funder of extreme fossil fuels and tar sands pipelines, including the Line 3 pipeline. JPMorgan Chase has a choice whether or not to renew the credit for Enbridge, the company behind the Line 3 pipeline. I urge JPMorgan Chase to get on the right side of history by ending financing for Line 3 and Enbridge and defund tar sands projects.”

Thank you for for taking a few minutes out of your day to make a quick call. Your call joined by hundreds of others makes a huge impact! Once you make the call, please let us know how it went by filling out the info on the right.

Urge JPMorgan Chase to #DefundTarSands

Today Rainforest Action Network showed up in downtown Denver to tell Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, to stop funding human rights abuses and climate disaster.

Join us and Telll JPMorgan Chase to #DefundTarSands

JPMorgan Chase is the #1 Wall Street funder of tar sands oil--one of the dirtiest forms of fossil fuels on the planet. Not only do TAR SANDS = GAME OVER for the climate, all projects associated with tar sands production wreak havoc on Indigenous, frontline, and fenceline communities.

Despite Indigenous and grassroots opposition, JPMorgan Chase is bankrolling ALL four proposed tar sands pipelines: TransCanada's Keystone XL and Energy East, Enbridge's Line 3 and Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain.

We are demanding that JPMorgan Chase not only stop funding tar sands pipelines, but end financing to the tar sands sector as a whole.

Tell JPMorgan Chase to protect Indigenous rights and the environment.

We need to make it clear to JPMorgan Chase (and banks in general) that the funding of extreme fossil fuels like tar sands is no longer acceptable. We will not tolerate threats to our health, land, and water.

Extreme energy means extreme weather. Climate change is not a threat of the future, but a major issue here now--back-to-back disasters like Hurricane Harvey and Hurricane Irma have made that clear. We must act now to to move towards a climate stable future.

This is your chance to tell Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase to defund one of the worst of the worst extreme fossil fuels, tar sands.

We need your voice — today. Tell JPMorgan Chase that you expect banks to live up to their commitments to Indigenous rights and the environment.

-Tess Geyer, Climate and Energy Network Organizer,
Rainforest Action Network