MOSCOW (MRC) -- JPMorgan Chase will reportedly announce a number of policies to increase restrictions on global coal funding and to end direct project funding of Arctic oil and gas projects, said Commondreams.
JPMorgan Chase, which has steadfastly remained the largest funder of fossil fuels despite long-standing climate protests, is announcing an intent to reduce its funding of coal and Arctic oil and gas. This announcement follows similar commitments made by a number of European banks and by Goldman Sachs, the first U.S. bank to announce such limits on fossil fuel funding.
JPMorgan Chase has been under fire from a range of groups for its outsized support of fossil fuels. Rainforest Action Network, Sierra Club, and World Resources Institute have published reports showing JPMorgan’s pivotal role in contributing to climate change. As noted by Bill McKibben in a recent Rolling Stone article, "JPMorgan Chase has lent more money to the fossil fuel industry than any other bank on Earth." McKibben and others launched a Stop the Money Pipeline campaign this year focusing on banks’ fossil fuel financing activities.
Investor concern for JPMorgan’s inaction on climate has also been increasing. This year, JPMorgan is facing climate-related shareholder proposals, including a resolution from As You Sow requesting that the company measure and reduce its carbon-intensive lending in line with the Paris 1.5 degree goal, as well as a campaign to remove a climate-skeptic from the company’s board.
As MRC informed earlier, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have been picked to advise on Saudi Aramco's plan to buy a controlling stake in petrochemical maker SABIC.
We remind, Saudi Aramco is set to gain unconditional EU antitrust approval for its USD69 billion buy of a 70% stake in petrochemicals group Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC). Aramco announced the deal to acquire the controlling stake from sovereign investor Public Investment Fund (PIF) in March last year, a move key to its diversification into refining and petrochemicals.
Earlier last year, SABIC took off-stream its SABIC Olefins 4 cracker owing to technical issues on May 10, 2019. Further details on duration of the shutdown could not be ascertained. Located in beek, the Netherlands, the cracker has an ethylene production capacity of 690,000 mt/year and a propylene production capacity of 360,000 mt/year.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 2,093,260 tonnes in 2019, up by 6% year on year. Shipments of all PE grades increased. PE shipments rose from both domestic producers and foreign suppliers. The estimated PP consumption in the Russian market was 1,260,400 tonnes in January-December 2019, up by 4% year on year. Supply of almost all grades of propylene polymers increased, except for statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers).
MRC