• JPMorgan adds Amazon biome to list of regions requiring enhanced due diligence
• Move follows criticism for financing oil and gas expansion in the rainforest
• Bank says decisions will be made case by case based on risk appetite
• Environmental groups welcome step but call for stronger financing exclusions
• Shareholder pressure pushes bank toward greater focus on Indigenous rights
• Arctic, coal, conflict minerals and hydropower also remain under enhanced scrutiny

JPMorgan Chase has begun applying enhanced due diligence to client activities in the Amazon biome, adding the world’s largest rainforest to a shortlist of regions where the bank says investment poses heightened environmental and social risks.

The policy change was disclosed in JPMorgan’s most recent sustainability report and flagged publicly last week by the environmental group Stand.earth. 

The Amazon now joins the Arctic as a region treated by the bank as sensitive enough to require additional scrutiny before financing can proceed.

The move comes after the 2024 Banking on Climate Chaos report found JPMorgan to be the leading financier of oil and gas expansion in the Amazon biome between 2016 and 2023. 

Environmental groups have long argued that global banks play a pivotal role in sustaining extractive industries in ecologically fragile areas.

The new measures, however, impose no automatic restrictions. A JPMorgan spokesperson told ESG Dive that each transaction and activity in the region will continue to be evaluated individually, consistent with the bank’s risk appetite and commercial goals.

“Managing risk is critical to the long-term success of our business,” the spokesperson said. 

“We added the Amazon biome as one example of a business location associated with clients or transactions we consider sensitive or in need of enhanced review, to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the associated risks.”

The bank will use the geospatial definition of the biome created by the Amazon Network of Georeferenced Socio-Environmental Information, known as RAISG. 

The framework is widely supported by Indigenous leaders and activists, who say accurate mapping is essential for protecting communities and ecosystems.

Environmental campaigners offered cautious praise. Allison Fajans-Turner of the Rainforest Action Network said that while the shift is welcome, it represents only a minimal step for an institution of JPMorgan’s scale. 

“JPMorgan Chase has finally taken an essential - if long-overdue - step to confront its role as the largest financier of oil and gas extraction in the Amazon,” she said.

Others argue the changes fall short of meaningful transformation. In a statement last week, campaigners accused the bank of opting for procedural improvements rather than enacting clear financing exclusions for activities in the Amazon and other vulnerable ecosystems. 

They also pressed JPMorgan to implement stronger protections for Indigenous communities facing displacement or environmental harm.

Shareholder pressure has added force to the debate. Last year, 30 percent of JPMorgan’s shareholders supported a proposal calling for a report on the bank’s practices relating to Indigenous rights. 

In the most recent proxy season, the United Church Fund withdrew a similar proposal after JPMorgan agreed to acknowledge in its disclosures that it will consider free, prior and informed consent when risks to Indigenous peoples are identified.

Critics say commitments on paper are not enough without robust implementation and transparent metrics. They warn that enhanced due diligence should be a first step toward clear limits on financing projects linked to deforestation, pollution and displacement.

Alongside its new Amazon requirements, JPMorgan also conducts case-by-case enhanced reviews for coal mining and coal-fired power, hydropower, agricultural commodities and related downstream uses in non-designated countries. 

Reviews also apply to clients primarily involved in the physical trading of conflict minerals, cobalt or diamonds.

As global pressure mounts on banks to limit the environmental footprint of their lending, JPMorgan’s latest shift signals a growing recognition that ecological and social risks in regions like the Amazon may present long-term financial consequences. 

Whether enhanced due diligence proves sufficient remains sharply contested.