Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter Shareholders at three of the top US investment banks overwhelmingly voted against resolutions that would have required the firms to stop investing in new fossil fuel projects by the end of the year. Nearly 90% of the shareholders at Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup opposed the proposals. Ahead of Tuesday's votes, Citi, Bank of America and Wells Fargo had urged shareholders to vote against the resolutions, which called for a halt on fossil fuel financing by year's end to meet Paris-aligned climate targets. In proxy statements released last month, the banks had argued the proposals were more general than the firms’ established plans to reduce emissions, and touted their decisions to not finance Arctic oil projects as examples of their commitment to their respective carbon reduction strategies. The votes followed the recent release of data showing that four US banks accounted for a quarter of all fossil fuel financing in 2016-21: JPMorgan Chase ($382 billion), Citi ($285 billion), Wells Fargo ($272 billion) and Bank of America ($232 billion). All four of those banks are also members of the UN's Net-Zero Banking Alliance, which is targeting net-zero carbon emissions from members' lending and investment portfolios by 2050.
