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For Immediate Release
January, 24 2023, 01:28pm EDT
Contact:
Malik Russell:,malik.russell@gmail.com
Stop the Money Pipeline coalition members respond to investors filing climate shareholder resolutions at major US and Canadian banks
Resolutions call for top banks and insurance companies to make significant progress on their climate commitments; will require support from major asset managers and other investors
Today, several institutional investors — including the New York City Comptroller, As You Sow (AYS), Sierra Club Foundation (SCF), Trillium Asset Management, and Harrington Investments — announced the filing of climate-related shareholder resolutions at major fossil fuel financing banks in the US and Canada, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley.
· Reuters coverage of NYC resolutions
· Bloomberg coverage of SCF & AYS resolutions
The resolutions call on the banks to:
· Adopt policies to
phase out financing of new fossil fuel exploration and development (filed by Sierra Club Foundation, Trillium Asset Management, and Harrington Investments at JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley);
· Disclose robust transition plans on how the banks intend to align financing activities with their near-term emissions reduction targets (filed by As You Sow at JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley);
· Set 2030 absolute emissions reduction targets for energy sector financing (filed by the New York City Comptroller at JPMorgan
Chase, Bank of America (co-filed with the New York State Comptroller), Goldman Sachs, and the Royal Bank of Canada).
A slate of resolutions calling for policies to phase out financing for fossil fuel expansion was filed by the same investors at US banks in 2022. They received between 9 and 13% support, which was a significant milestone for these first-of-their-kind proposals. This year's fossil fuel financing proposals have been updated to encourage banks to finance clients' low-carbon transition so long as those plans are credible and verified. The previous resolutions were supported by many major institutional investors, including the New York State and New York City Common Retirement Funds.
New in 2023 are the resolutions on absolute emissions reductions targets for energy sector financing filed by the New York City and New York State Comptrollers, and the resolutions calling for disclosure of climate transition plans filed by As You Sow. The day before the resolutions were filed, Denmark's largest bank, Danske, announced a phase out of corporate financing for companies engaged in new coal, oil and gas development.
Royal Bank of Canada and the six US banks have committed to align their financing with the goals of the Paris Agreement and to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. However, scientific consensus shows that fossil fuel expansion is incompatible with keeping global warming below 1.5C, and the big US banks continue to provide billions of dollars every year for new fossil fuel development — a fact underscored by a new report released just last week.
In response to the news, coalition members with the Stop the Money Pipeline issue the following statements:
Arielle Swernoff, US Banks Campaign Manager with Stop the Money Pipeline, said, "Any climate commitment from a bank that is still financing fossil fuel expansion is greenwashing, pure and simple. By supporting these resolutions, shareholders can hold banks accountable to their own climate commitments, effectively manage risk, and protect people and the planet."
Michael Esealuka, Louisiana organizer with Healthy Gulf, said: "The Gulf South is ground zero for environmental racism and climate chaos. Every year we face worsening hurricanes, freezes and floods. Big banks are directly fueling this crisis by financing a massive expansion of petrochemical plants and gas exports in our communities. Bank CEOs like Brian Moynihan, David Solomon and Jamie Dimon made climate commitments — that should mean something. Instead they profit off climate chaos as the Gulf South is made into a sacrifice zone for fossil fuels."
Jeffrey Jacoby, Deputy Director of Texas Campaign for the Environment, said: "Shareholders at big banks need to know that continuing to fund the fossil fuel projects that drive climate change also means perpetuating environmental racism in the Gulf South – the very same communities who've experienced devastating impacts from climate disasters again and again."
Adele Shraiman, Campaign Representative with the Sierra Club's Fossil-Free Finance campaign, said: "Major US banks have fallen behind their global peers by setting weak emissions reduction targets and continuing to pour billions of dollars into fossil fuel expansion every year. Investors are uniquely positioned to push these big banks to stop stalling and finally take meaningful steps to address the climate crisis. We look forward to rallying support behind the investors that are leading the way on these shareholder resolutions to ensure the biggest banks are aligning their practices with their commitment to the goals of the Paris Agreement."
Richard Brooks, Stand.earth Climate Finance Program Director, said: "This action from the New York City Comptroller is exactly the kind of climate leadership institutional investors around the world must take. Banks' lending and underwriting practices must align with science and justice. It's time to cut greenwashed net-zero rhetoric once and for all."
Ruth Breech, Senior Campaigner for Climate and Energy with Rainforest Action Network, said: "Our data shows that US banks like Chase, Citi, BofA and Wells Fargo fuel climate disasters and are the biggest funders of the fossil fuel industry. They try to dismiss this truth through greenwashing, lack of transparency, and moving the goalposts on progress. These resolutions allow shareholders to make sound long-term decisions on their investments. Fossil fuel companies like Exxon, who have misled the public for decades, can no longer be allowed to get rich at our expense—as they export the losses of climate chaos onto the rest of us. Globally we are moving towards a sustainable energy future. Shareholders can lead the way."
Moira Birss, Climate Finance Director with Amazon Watch, said: "The Amazon rainforest—an ecosystem essential to global climate stability—is on the brink of collapse, and yet big banks like Citi, BoA, and JPMorgan continue pouring money into the companies destroying the forest to extract more fossil fuels. This financing not only destroys forests, the climate, and Indigenous livelihoods, but also the credibility of these banks' climate commitments, and it's well past time shareholders hold them to account."
Mary Cerulli, Executive Director of Climate Finance Action, said: The largest banks have all made significant long-term climate commitments. However, they continue to fund fossil fuel companies through bonds and loans locking in new infrastructure projects for decades. These shareholder resolutions will require banks to disclose their transition plans, set specific emission targets, and ensure they hit their long-term net zero goals to mitigate the systemic risk of climate change.
Resolutions at insurance companies
Shareholders have also filed climate resolutions at Chubb, Travelers, The Hartford, and Berkshire Hathaway – four majors in the U.S. insurance sector, another financial pillar of the fossil fuel industry.
Green Century Funds filed resolutions with Chubb, The Hartford, and Travelers, calling on the companies to phase out underwriting of new fossil fuel projects. As You Sow filed resolutions at Chubb, Travelers, and Berkshire Hathaway requesting a report on how each company will measure, disclose, and reduce insured emissions (i.e., emissions from their clients).
Elana Sulakshana, Senior Campaigner with Rainforest Action Network, said, "Shareholders are concerned about the material risks that climate change poses to the insurance industry, as well as the risks posed by insurers' unchecked support for new oil and gas projects. Some Republican state officials are attempting to turn financial institutions' responsible efforts to mitigate risk into a culture war, but investors know that climate risk cannot be ignored, especially within the insurance sector. In the midst of mounting losses from Hurricane Ian and other climate disasters, Green Century Funds is sending a clear message to Chubb, The Hartford, and Travelers: phase out support for fossil fuel expansion and underwrite a clean energy future."
Organizations are gearing up to support the climate resolutions at both banks and insurance companies this spring. Last year, members of the Stop the Money Pipeline coalition mobilized tens of thousands of everyday people to push major investors, such as state pension funds, BlackRock and Vanguard, to support climate action across corporate America. They are promising to double their efforts this year.
BACKGROUND
Comptroller Brad Lander manages the five New York City pension funds, which are valued at approximately $242 billion, making it the fourth largest public pension fund in the US. Comptroller Tom DiNapoli manages the New York State pension fund, which is valued at approximately $272 billion, making it the third largest public pension fund in the US. New York State led the resolution filing at Bank of America.
The resolutions follow a series of recent reports underscoring the scale of bank financing for fossil fuel expansion, and the lack of credible targets and plans to align with the banks' climate commitments:
· A Stand.earth report revealed RBC's surging fossil finance surpassed CAD $9.2 billion within one year of joining GFANZ, despite its public commitments to reach net-zero financed emissions. Since the 2016 Paris Climate Agreement was signed, RBC has pumped more than USD $201 billion (CAD $262 billion) into fossil fuel companies, making it the fifth worst fossil fuel financier in the world, and #1 in Canada.
· A Rainforest Action Network report showed that the big six US banks provided about $445 billion in financing for the top 100 companies expanding fossil fuels between 2016-2021, which accounted for one-third of the financing from the world's 60 largest banks to those top expanders.
· A Sierra Club report analyzing the net-zero pledges of US banks revealed that their commitments and actions fall far short of what's needed to meet global climate goals. The report outlines why it is essential for banks to set absolute emissions reduction targets instead of intensity-only targets, especially in high-polluting sectors. At present, Citi and Wells Fargo are the only major US banks to have set absolute emissions reduction targets for their financing of the oil and gas sector.
· The 2022 Banking on Climate Chaos report, to be updated this coming March, revealed in the six years following the Paris Agreement (2016-2021), the five largest bankers of fossil fuels in the world were:
· JPMorgan Chase: USD $382 billion;
· Citigroup: USD $285 billion;
· Wells Fargo: USD $272 billion;
· Bank of America: USD $232 billion;
· RBC: USD $201 billion;
· Two others – Morgan Stanley (USD $137 billion) and Goldman Sachs (USD $119 billion) – were in the top 15 globally.
· Citigroup: USD $285 billion;
· Wells Fargo: USD $272 billion;
· Bank of America: USD $232 billion;
· RBC: USD $201 billion;
· Two others – Morgan Stanley (USD $137 billion) and Goldman Sachs (USD $119 billion) – were in the top 15 globally.
The Stop the Money Pipeline coalition is over 160 organizations strong holding the financial backers of climate chaos accountable.
LATEST NEWS
Nearly Every Child On Earth Now Exposed to At Least One Fossil-Fueled Climate Hazard
A new United Nations report finds that well over half of the world's children live in areas facing drought, 1.5 billion face heatwaves, and 370 million are exposed to flooding.
Jun 16, 2026
As global fossil fuel giants report windfall profits from the US-Israeli war on Iran and President Donald Trump pushes to continue oil, gas, and coal extraction despite the clear risks to the planet, the United Nations children's welfare agency on Tuesday provided "the most detailed global picture to date" of how children across the world—in low-, middle-, and high-income countries—are being impacted by the fossil-fueled climate emergency.
According to the Children’s Climate Risk Report 2026 by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), nearly every child in the world is now exposed to at least one climate hazard, including riverine or coastal flooding, dangerous heatwaves, severe storms, or drought—all extreme weather events that scientists say are being made more hazardous by continued greenhouse gas emissions, which are pushing the goal of limiting planetary heating to 1.5°C further out of reach, according to experts.
There were 2.4 billion children on Earth in 2025, and according to the report, 2.3 billion of them are estimated to live in areas with air pollution—identified in the report as is "not primarily driven by Earth’s climate but... highly sensitive to and compounded by it."
Well over half of the world's children, 1.8 billion, are exposed to drought, and 1.5 billion are living in areas facing heatwaves that have grown longer and more severe as fossil fuel extraction has continued despite scientists' and energy experts' warnings.
About 1.2 billion children are exposed to extreme heat where they live, while about 370 million live in areas affected by either riverine flooding or coastal flooding—which have been driven by more severe tropical storms, affecting 662 million children worldwide and frequently disrupting homes, schools, and health services.
Children in sub-Saharan Africa were identified as the most vulnerable to climate hazards, with communities facing extreme heat, drought, and heatwaves.
Children in South Asian countries, such as Bangladesh and Pakistan, were found to have the most children exposed to multiple hazards at the highest intensities, such as flooding and extreme heatwaves.
"The climate crisis does not manifest as a single event. For millions of children, the reality is a complex and dangerous cascade of multiple, overlapping hazards," reads the report's executive summary. "This compounding of threats overwhelms the capacity of unprepared social services and undermines the resilience of families and communities. For instance, intense droughts can devastate crops and worsen food insecurity. Dry vegetation left behind by a drought can fuel wildfires, which in turn exacerbate air pollution and leave the land vulnerable to flash floods later in the year. These floods can destroy infrastructure such as homes, schools and hospitals, displace communities, and spread waterborne diseases."
"These effects can create a vicious cycle: Destroyed homes can lead to displacement, which can result in a lack of shelter, depriving children of protection from additional impacts and making them even more susceptible to future hazards," continues the report. "Disrupted education can have lifelong consequences, making it harder for children to build a stable future and break free from hardship."
The report calls on governments to reduce fossil fuel emissions and "take ambitious action" to secure a just transition toward renewable energy; protect children through inclusive climate adaptation and loss and damage funding; and invest in climate education to ensure that "children’s needs and perspectives are reflected in local, national, regional, and global decision-making on climate policy and climate finance."
UNICEF emphasized that "we know what works: installing solar power to keep children learning during power outages, switching to groundwater aquifers for drinking water as surface water sources dry up, upgrading sanitation systems to recycle water for farming, and building shelters to protect children and their families from tropical storms."
Specific recommendations in the report include:
- Mandating child-centric environmental impact assessments for new infrastructure projects;
- Preparing primary care health facilities by investing in climate-resilient infrastructure and early climate warning systems;
- Prioritizing clean and resilient transport for children by accelerating the transition to safe, low-emissions public and active transport like walking and cycling; and
- Accelerating the adoption of low-emissions, high-efficiency cooling technologies through financial incentives and updated energy performance standards.
Tom Slaymaker, a monitoring specialist for a joint UNICEF and World Health Organization program focused on water supply, sanitation, and hygiene, said the message in the report "is clear."
"Climate change is not only changing the planet, but also children," said Slaymaker. "Without urgent, child-focused climate action, the shocks they face today will only intensify. But with the right investment and political will, we can reduce risks, strengthen systems, and give children the chance to survive and thrive.”
Catherine Russell, executive director of UNICEF, said the agency's analysis "can help governments and decision-makers plan better and invest more effectively in resilient services."
"When we strengthen health and education systems, and improve infrastructure with children in mind," said Russell, "we protect them from today’s climate threats and help secure their future.”
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'Reeks of Corruption': Trump DOJ Bypassed Antitrust Staff to Approve Paramount-Warner Bros. Merger
"The American people need to know if this merger was approved as a political favor," said Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
Jun 16, 2026
The leadership of President Donald Trump's Justice Department shut down an investigation into Paramount's widely criticized bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery and issued a statement supporting the merger before career antitrust attorneys could finish scrutinizing the proposal, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
According to the Journal, which cited unnamed people familiar with the matter, "a team of career lawyers who had spent months scrutinizing the deal were leaning toward recommending a lawsuit challenging it on the grounds that the combination of the two movie studios would be anticompetitive and violate antitrust law." The newspaper reported that the antitrust staffers who investigated the $111 billion merger proposal "didn't participate in writing" the Justice Department statement greenlighting the deal.
“When we said this is what corruption looks like, this is what we meant," the Block the Merger coalition, an alliance of dozens of organizations opposed to the deal, said in a statement late Monday.
DOJ leadership's move to clear the deal was just the latest in a string of merger approvals that have drawn suspicion, given that the Justice Department has been accused of giving corporate lobbyists free rein over antitrust policy. The DOJ's antitrust section is currently headed by Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward, who—according to a fired antitrust official—"perverted justice and acted inconsistent with the rule of law" during a separate merger investigation.
"The American people need to know if this merger was approved as a political favor," Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) wrote in response to the Journal's reporting. "This reeks of corruption."
Unreal. Justice Department staff were railroaded again by political interference in the Paramount-Warner Bros merger review.
None of the investigators on the deal had any role in writing the unprecedented clearance statement issued by DOJ last Friday. pic.twitter.com/yYcKUpuos3
— Lee Hepner (@LeeHepner) June 15, 2026
If finalized, Paramount Skydance's proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. would leave CBS, CNN, HBO, and other major media properties under the control of the son of billionaire Trump megadonor Larry Ellison, posing what one coalition called "an existential threat to the free press." David Ellison, the CEO of Paramount Skydance, dined with the president in April at an event "honoring the Trump White House."
The proposed merger is still facing antitrust scrutiny in Europe and from state attorneys general in the US.
The Journal reported that "some staffers" in the DOJ's antitrust division believe the Justice Department's statement backing the merger and getting it over a major regulatory hurdle "was designed to make it harder for state attorneys general to challenge the deal in court." In the statement, the DOJ declared that "the transaction is not likely to result in harm to competition or American consumers."
Rob Bonta, California's attorney general, said in response to the Justice Department's decision that "the merger of Warner Bros and Paramount is not a done deal and remains under investigation by my office."
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Senators Interrogate Big Oil Over 'Egregiously High Prices at the Pump' During Iran War
"While Americans suffer from high prices and the Iran War imposes tens of billions of dollars of new costs on the American public, the oil industry wins big."
Jun 15, 2026
As President Donald Trump reached an interim peace deal with the Iranian government and Oxfam International revealed that 41 energy industry tycoons collectively increased their wealth by $23.5 billion since the war was launched in late February, a pair of US senators on Monday released their letters demanding answers from fossil fuel giants about their windfall profits and soaring gasoline prices during the conflict.
Senate Banking Committee Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Committee on Environment and Public Works Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) last Thursday wrote to BP America chair and president Orlando Alvarez, Chevron chair and CEO Mike Wirth, ConocoPhillips chair and CEO Ryan Lance, Continental Resources president and CEO Robert Lawler, ExxonMobil chair and CEO Darren Woods, Occidental Petroleum president and CEO Richard Jackson, and Shell USA president Colette Hirstius.
"We write to question why American families are paying egregiously high prices at the pump while the fossil fuel industry collects massive windfall profits thanks to the Trump administration's war in Iran," Warren and Whitehouse wrote amid peace talks last week, noting that Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route for fossil fuels, led to what that the International Energy Agency (IEA) called "the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market."
"Gasoline prices rapidly increased by as much as 52%," the pair highlighted. "Before the Iran War, oil cost $71.32 per barrel. Since then, it has cost as much as $138.21 and currently sits at $98.29 per barrel. The Iran War has allowed 27 oil and gas companies to rake in over $40 billion in profit since the Iran War began."
Warren and Whitehouse also emphasized that "the opportunity to profit from high oil prices did not occur in a political vacuum. In April 2024, then-candidate Trump solicited a billion dollars from fossil fuel executives at a private dinner at Mar-a-Lago, promising in exchange to roll back environmental regulations, issue desired permits, and expand drilling opportunities."
Also pointing to Trump's invasion of Venezuela, abduction of President Nicolás Maduro, and takeover of the country's nationalized oil industry, the senators said that "the pattern is consistent: While Americans suffer from high prices and the Iran War imposes tens of billions of dollars of new costs on the American public, the oil industry wins big."
The pair requested answers to their questions on profits, pricing, federal policy, and communications with the Trump administration about the Iran War by June 25, They explained that the information "will aid our assessment of the appropriate scope, rate structure, and enforcement mechanisms as we actively consider the Big Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act," reintroduced by Whitehouse and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) in March, just weeks in to the war.
The information will also assist with investigations into "the extent to which Trump administration military, regulatory, and policy decisions benefited the oil industry and the extent to which any of these were the product of quid pro quo solicitations," as well as "whether oil and gas companies had advance knowledge of or ability to shape the administration's decision to go to war in Iran."
"Congress has a constitutional duty to investigate each of these matters and to legislate as necessary to protect the American people," the pair added. Both chambers are controlled by the GOP and have refused—largely along party lines—to pass war powers resolutions intended to prevent or end Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's illegal assault on Iran.
In response to Trump's new deal with Iran to extend a ceasefire reached in April and reopen the strait, oil prices dropped and the stock market rallied. Specifically, as The Associated Press detailed, "the S&P 500 rose 1.7%," while "the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 468 points, or 0.9%, to a record, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 3.1%."
Allie Rosenbluth, US program manager at the advocacy group Oil Change International, said Monday that "any agreement that reduces further violence is welcome. But this announcement should not be mistaken as the end to the crisis, given Israel has vowed to remain in occupied areas of southern Lebanon indefinitely, while violence continues in Gaza and the West Bank. As attention turns to the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and falling oil prices, we should not lose sight of the devastating human toll this conflict has inflicted across the region, nor the profound economic disruption it continues to cause around the world."
Rosenbluth continued:
The rapid rise and fall of oil prices in response to military escalation and diplomatic announcements is a reminder of how exposed the global economy is to fossil fuel volatility. For millions of people, this crisis has meant loss, displacement, food insecurity, and higher cost of living. For fossil fuel companies, it has meant windfall profits.
Oil Change International estimates that if US oil prices average around $90 per barrel through the end of the year, US oil companies could make an additional $38 billion in windfall revenues from crude oil exports alone as a result of Trump and Netanyahu's war on Iran. While households around the world have been hit by higher fuel, energy, and food costs, oil companies are cashing in billions.
The Strait of Hormuz may be reopening, but this crisis has once again exposed fossil fuels as a source of conflict, chaos, volatility, and disruption. While communities bear the costs, oil companies profit from the instability. Once renewables are installed, sunlight or wind does not become more expensive because of geopolitical conflict. The most durable form of energy security is reducing exposure to fossil fuels altogether, and making a just transition to renewable energy.
As Group of Seven leaders, including Trump, gathered in France on Monday, and Oxfam International released its report about how G7 energy billionaires have pocketed $300 million per day since the start of the Iran War, the organization's executive director, Amitabh Behar, argued that representatives from the other six countries, or G6, "can't plead powerlessness."
"They can cancel debt. They can tax windfall profits and extreme wealth. They can advocate for a new issuance of special drawing rights. They can provide poorer countries with aid," Behar added. "Refusing to act simply because Washington will not join them is not diplomacy, it is cowardice. And it will only accelerate the G6's slide into global irrelevance."
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