The US bank JPMorgan Chase announced Tuesday that it will pay 200 million dollars for the capture and storage of 800,000 tons of carbon dioxide to offset its polluting emissions. To this end, the Wall Street firm has established long-term alliances with the companies Climeworks, Charm Industrial, CO280 Solutions and Frontier, details a press release.
Beyond offsetting plant emissions by 2030, the goal is to help these companies scale up their technologies. “We are working to foster the large-scale development of carbon capture and storage as commercial solutions and we want to send a strong signal to the market,” the bank’s COO Daniel Pinto explained in the press release.
JPMorgan’s initiative represents one of the largest to date. According to the site cdr.fy, which lists publicly announced carbon capture and storage programs, Microsoft committed to buying 2.8 million tons of carbon, followed by Airbus with 400,000 tons.
Criticized for its financial ties to companies active in fossil fuels
The agreement with the Swiss company Climeworks, which JPMorgan had helped raise 650 million dollars last year, has a duration of nine years and aims to capture 25,000 tons of CO2 directly from the atmosphere. The Charm Industrial project has a duration of five years and provides for the purchase of credits corresponding to the removal and storage of approximately 29,000 tons of CO2 through the collection of agricultural waste and its burial. JPMorgan has also committed to purchase credits from C0280 Solutions representing the capture of 30,000 tons of CO2 per year for 15 years, or 450,000 tons in total. The bank has also joined the Frontier project, which invests in various CO2 capture technologies.
As the largest bank in the US by asset size, JPMorgan finances both oil and gas giants and technologies aimed at combating climate change. It is criticized by associations for the defense of the environment for the persistence of its financial links with companies that launch new projects in fossil fuels and by some, on the right, for its support for projects that emphasize respect for sustainable development. The bank’s board recently recommended that its shareholders vote against proposals requiring disclosure of its climate transition policy and an end to financing fossil fuel projects.
Source: BFM TV
