BankTrack
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Banking on Climate Change 2020 - Arctic oil and gas. Photo: Rainforest Action Network (RAN)Go directly to: Arctic oil and gas policy or Arctic oil and gas exclusion
Arctic oil and gas
Arctic oil and gas refers to all oil and gas exploration taking place in Arctic waters. Estimates are that the area north of the Arctic circle contains 6% of the world’s undiscovered conventional oil and about 30% of the undiscovered conventional gas. Drilling in the Arctic is technically difficult due to the harsh winters, long supply lines and sea ice that can damage facilities. There is often also a lack of infrastructure such as roads, villages/cities or pipelines to transport the oil or gas. This makes the break-even price of Arctic oil the highest of all oil types, increasing the financial risks.
The Arctic is at the forefront of the climate crisis, with no other region on the planet heating as fast. Large-scale drilling for oil and gas is another blow to an ecosystem that is already struggling with climate change. One of the most contested areas in the Arctic is the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, which US President Trump has opened up for drilling. Drilling in the Refuge isn’t just a disaster for the local community of the Gwich’in people, it is also devastating for its fragile ecosystem, where oil spills from blowouts, pipeline leaks or shipping accidents pose a tremendous risk. Following pressure from the local communities, NGOs and the public, an increasing number of banks have distanced themselves from drilling in the Refuge or the entire Arctic region.
Banks and Arctic oil and gas
The severity of the climate crisis requires that banks must urgently take steps to disengage from financing business activities and projects that continue the world's reliance on fossil fuels. Banks must therefore end support for all new Arctic oil and gas projects and implement a full phase-out for financing Arctic oil and gas in line with the Paris climate agreement.
The world’s biggest financier of Arctic oil and gas is JP Morgan Chase, followed closely by Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.
Bank policies on Arctic oil and gas are scored below. These scores were originally published in the Banking on Climate Change 2020 report, and any policy changes implemented since then have been assessed using the same methodology. The details section in the table contains further detail on the exact scoring per bank, as well as an overview of relevant policies.
See here for banks' exposure to the Arctic oil and gas sector in 2016-2019.
Bank policy score on Arctic oil and gas
The point-based policy ranking assesses bank policies in four ways:
1) Restriction on direct financing for Arctic oil and gas projects.
- None (0), weak exclusion (1.5), moderate exclusion (3), strong exclusion (4)
2) Restriction on financing for companies that expand Arctic oil and gas.
- None (0), weak exclusion (3), strong exclusion (5)
3) The bank’s commitment to phase-out financing for Arctic oil and gas.
- None (0), reduction (1.5), weak phase-out (3), strong phase-out (5)
4) The bank’s commitment to exclude companies active in Arctic oil and gas above a certain threshold.
- None (0), enhanced due diligence (0.5), weak exclusion threshold (2), strong exclusion threshold (5), full exclusion (6)
A bank can obtain a total of 20 policy points for its Arctic oil and gas policy. Based on this score banks are then classified as laggards (0-5 points), followers (5.5-10 points), front runners (10.5-15 points) or leaders (15.5-20 points).
Banks excluding finance for Arctic oil and gas
A number of banks have already taken steps to fully or partially exclude Arctic oil and gas projects or companies involved in Arctic oil and gas operations from their investments. The table below lists banks that have taken such steps. Note that this is not a complete overview of all banks excluding Arctic oil and gas; additional banks will be added in due time.
Exclusion table Arctic oil and gas
This table lists banks that have adopted a full ( ) or partial ( ) exclusion policy for Arctic oil and gas projects and/or companies. Click on 'Details' for the rationale of this assessment for each bank.
Feedback welcome
Our policy assessments are always a work in progress and we very much welcome any feedback, especially from banks included in them. Please get in touch at climate@banktrack.org.