Goldman’s updated environmental policy framework includes pledges to decline financing that directly supports new thermal coal mines and upstream Arctic oil exploration and development. Instead, the company is targeting US$750 billion in sustainable finance growth themes by 2030.
Bloomberg states that environmental groups have welcomed the move. The Rainforest Action Network and the Sierra Club have commented that the revisions on fossil fuel financing make Goldman’s policy “now the strongest among the big six US banks,” although the firm remains behind European lenders including Credit Agricole SA and BNP Parabas SA. In a joint statement, the groups said that the move to rule out Arctic oil projects marks “a crucial first step, among US banks, on ending financing expansion of oil and gas.”
