By Simon Jessop

LONDON, Reuters – JPMorgan (NYSE 🙂 will continue lending to fossil fuel industries to support its transition to a low carbon economy, despite opposition from campaigners, an executive stated on Thursday.

Chuka Umunna is the head of bank’s social, environmental and governance activities in Europe and the Middle East. She said that oil and gas companies are “part” of the solution to climate change, and they would require support for the development and deployment renewable energy technologies.

Umunna stated that while we would love to see more innovative renewable energy companies come to market, they don’t have the capital to invest the required amount to make the world a greener place. Umunna spoke at the Reuters ESG Investment Europe Europe 2021 conference.

This commitment to fossil-fuels is occurring as Europe’s energy crisis grips the markets and European governments fear about possible blackouts during northern hemisphere winter.

This follows an important report by the International Energy Agency, which calls for the halting of all fossil fuel development after this year if the world is to meet its climate targets by the middle century.

ING in the Netherlands responded by saying it would seek to align with net zero, while La Banque Postale in France stated that it was planning to stop all lending to the oil and natural gas industry.

Climate campaigners were also inspired by the report, urging banks to take a stronger approach in reducing lending to oil and gas companies.

Umunna indicated that the bank would “evaluate, recalibrate” its goals constantly, but it would not promise to change them immediately since it had already laid out a plan to finance the oil and natural gas sector earlier in the year.

JPMorgan announced that it will reduce the portfolio-weighted average carbon intensity of its clients by 35% and 15%, respectively, by 2030 in Scopes 1 & 2. Scopes 1 & 2 emissions are derived from company operations and Scope 3 emissions is based on the use of the products of the customers.

He added that pulling out of this sector too soon would cause severe damage to the world’s most vulnerable.

We don’t have the renewables to replace this energy demand. What would happen if we did that now? Blackouts are likely and the most vulnerable people will be those who live in the poorest areas of the globe.

Umunna is a former British politician and a member of the opposition Labour Party. She said as global leaders prepare for next round climate talks in Scotland, Oct. 31, Umunna needs to ensure that political parties have more support for any policy changes.

“You are correct, Greta Thunberg’s views don’t prevail in the UK. While I love Greta Thunberg, the majority of… Although I believe she is a great advocate, and I share many of the same views as her, business leaders also have to agree to some extent. But we need to reach consensus on action, and demonstrate that everyone stands to gain from it.