Bank wants to neutralize its environmental footprint and score new business in burgeoning industry
By Amrith RamkumarFollow
May 23, 2023 5:30 am ET | WSJ NEWS EXCLUSIVE
The biggest U.S. bank is making one of the biggest bets ever to remove carbon from the atmosphere as a way to fight climate change.
JPMorgan Chase JPM 0.24%increase; green up pointing triangle has agreed to invest more than $200 million to purchase credits from several companies in the nascent industry, company officials said. The money and JPMorgan’s endorsement are a boost to businesses that have removed only small amounts of carbon so far. JPMorgan is making the purchases to neutralize the bank’s environmental footprint. It is also attempting to score new business by becoming a leader in a burgeoning clean-energy industry. The bank helped carbon removal startup Climeworks raise $650 million from investors last year and has fielded questions from big corporate clients about carbon removal.
“We’re jumping in the pool all in,” Brian DiMarino, JPMorgan’s head of operational sustainability, said in an interview. “This is us putting our weight and our capital behind something we believe is truly important to bring to market now.”
Carbon removal is gaining increasing attention as it becomes clear that the transition away from fossil fuels is moving too slowly to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions enough to limit climate change. Scientists estimate billions of tons of removal will be needed annually by midcentury to avoid the worst effects of global warming. Critics say carbon removal could allow fossil-fuel producers to continue with business as usual. (continue to The Wall Street Journal for the full article)
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