Rainforest Action Network & Rainforest Alliance – 2017-10-14 16:38:02
https://www.ran.org/defundtarsands
ACTION ALERT: Tell JPMorgan Chase: #DefundTarSands
Jason Opena Disterhoft / Rainforest Action Network
(October 12, 2017) — Thanks to the thousands of petition signatures, in-person actions, and on the ground pressure, BNP Paribas — Europe’s 2nd largest bank — just set the new standard for global bank policies on extreme oil and gas!
BNP Paribas cut funding to tar sands, all tar sands pipelines, fracking, LNG, and Arctic oil projects. This is huge! Can you help us keep the momentum going? It’s time to focus on the worst US bank when it comes to financing extreme energy: JPMorgan Chase.
JPMorgan Chase is the number one Wall Street funder of tar sands oil — one of the dirtiest forms of fossil fuels on the planet. The continued extraction and burning of tar sands oil means “game over” for our climate, and pipelines and other tar sands projects wreak havoc on Indigenous, frontline, and fenceline communities.
We know our pressure makes a difference, and BNP Paribas’s sweeping announcement is a huge victory! RAN contributed with research, action, and close collaboration with partners from France to across North America who have been pushing BNP Paribas to get out of extreme oil and gas.
To echo the Wall Street Journal, this is “one of the clearest signs yet that the banking industry is re-evaluating its relationship with the oil sector.” (1)
BNP Paribas has now adopted the most comprehensive oil and gas policy of any global bank — announcing that they would no longer finance tar sands, fracking, LNG, and Arctic oil projects. In an unprecedented move, the bank doubled down with a policy to end support for any company whose principal business is tar sands or shale oil and gas. (2)
This announcement also means that BNP Paribas will not be financing any of the proposed tar sand pipelines: TransCanada’s Keystone XL, Enbridge’s Line 3 and Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain. This is an incredible feat, and a huge step towards the downfall of dirty pipelines that threaten Indigenous rights and create climate chaos.
JPMorgan Chase (currently bankrolling ALL of the proposed pipelines) needs to follow suit and and not only stop funding tar sands pipelines, but end financing to the tar sands sector as a whole.
BNP Paribas has now set the standard for the banking sector.
It’s time for JPMorgan Chase to put their money where their mouth is and invest in our planet’s future.
Jason Opena Disterhoft is the Climate and Energy Senior Campaigner at Rainforest Action Network
Footnotes
1 https://www.wsj.com/articles/bnp-paribas-to-stop-financing-shale-oil-sands-projects-1507730419
2 https://group.bnpparibas/en/press-release/bnp-paribas-takes-measures-accelerate-support-energy-transition
Forests: Our Best Defense Against Climate Change
Rainforest Alliance
(October 12, 2017) — Among the many gifts forests give us is one we desperately need: help with slowing the impacts of climate change. Trees capture greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and keep them from accumulating in the atmosphere and warming our planet.
Everything on Earth depends on healthy forests. Climate experts and scientists have made it clear: the planet is warming faster than expected, forest loss is accelerating, and wildlife is vanishing. We stand more of a chance in the fight against climate change if we defend the world’s remaining forests.
The Rainforest Alliance works with farmers, forest communities, governments, and companies to foster truly sustainable rural economies that benefit communities while protecting one of Earth’s most valuable natural resources. Your support will help us expand this work and keep more forests standing.
Strong forests are our most powerful allies in the fight against climate change, join us in protecting forests and protecting our future.
Rainforest Alliance
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