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The Amazon has been a victim for decades of fuel burning, pollution from dumping, tree felling and the loss of its biodiversity. A little over a year ago it became known that all these actions were bringing this unique ecosystem closer to a tipping point in which the losses would be irreversible . Even so, the oil and gas sector continues to exploit the territory . Mostly financed by a few banks. JPMorgan Chase, Itaú Unibanco, Citibank, HSBC, Banco Santander, Bank of America, Banco Bradesco and Goldman Sachs. These eight banks are the owners of 55% of the financing allocated to agreements related to the exploitation of fossil fuels in Peru, Colombia, Brazil and Ecuador during the last 15 years.
In total, 11 billion dollars invested in oil and gas activities that have caused the rainforest to lose more than 75% of its ability to recover from extreme weather events in recent decades. The environmental organization Stand.earth and the Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA) have revealed these figures in an investigation called The Profits of Collapse , published this Tuesday along with the first public Special Data database in which you can see all banks involved in loan and bond underwriting agreements for companies engaged in the development of oil wells, exploration, production and the transportation and storage of oil and gas in the Amazon.

The banks that finance the most the destruction of the Amazon These entities represent only 5% of the banks found in oil and gas operations in the territory JPMorgan Chase 1 733 629 773 Citibank 1 676 656 110 Itau Bank To deliver on our commitment, we are setting portfolio-level emissions intensity reduction targets in selected sectors that align with science-based emissions reduction pathways.” This paragraph can be read in the sustainability section of the JPMorgan Chase website. The other banks have very similar texts on their respective environmental commitments. Research findings contradict these words. The case studies included in The Profits of Collapse illustrate how each of these large banks has participated in deals that expand oil and gas production in the Amazon. A notable plan is the development of the largest carbon bomb in the territory, the Parnaiba Gas Complex , capable of releasing two gigatons of carbon during its useful life.
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