Stop Financing the Crisis of Plastics & Petrochemical Pollution!
Top Ten Banks & Investors Backing the U.S. Petrochemical Expansion
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The global financial sector has poured over 130 billion dollars since 2019 into the corporations threatening to further devastate frontline communities across the U.S. by expanding toxic petrochemical infrastructure. Even as climate change grows more extreme, and as more people face premature death from diseases linked to industrial pollution, big banks like Citi and institutional investors like Vanguard continue to bankroll and invest in companies like Exxon, Dow, and BASF that are leading the expansion of this deadly industry. 120 new or expanding petrochemical projects have been proposed across the U.S., including 42 mega-projects.
Across the U.S., fenceline communities are organizing to fight back and hold financial institutions accountable for their role in this preventable crisis. We believe that healthy investment in our communities is possible! You can join this movement. Start by signing the letter below, demanding that the top banks and investors who are funding the petrochemical expansion in the U.S. end all financing for and divest from petrochemicals!
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To:
Top Ten Banks & Investors Backing the U.S. Petrochemical Expansion
From:
[Your Name]
Dear [institution],
The massive expansion of the petrochemical industry underway in the U.S. poses dire threats to our health, to our environment, and to our climate. Additionally, petrochemicals are increasingly a risky investment: the industry is in decline, facing issues of oversupply of many chemicals with no end in sight, shifting consumer preferences, and legal and regulatory risks.
For all these reasons, I am writing to urge you to stop any further financing for the petrochemical and fossil fuel projects and companies that are driving the global crises of environmental racism, climate change, and plastic pollution.
The proliferation of petrochemical plants in regions like Texas, Louisiana, and the Ohio River Valley directly threatens the health and safety of surrounding communities, particularly low-income communities and communities of color, with cancer and other diseases. They also increase the risk of sudden danger, with 1 in 3 Americans already living within worst-case scenario zones for chemical disasters. On top of that, the enormous greenhouse gas emissions from these facilities contribute greatly to the global climate crisis. Meanwhile, disruptive microplastics are now abundant throughout the human body and the environment, and the expansion of plastic production and waste will only increase this pervasive form of pollution. Altogether, the human and environmental health cost is far too high for these toxic investments.
As a financier of one or more proposed petrochemical expansion projects or companies, you have the urgent responsibility and the power to help stop this catastrophic problem.
I ask that your institution does the following:
For banks:
- Immediately prohibit all financing for petrochemical expansion, including for any company with plans for new or expanded facilities for plastics, fertilizers, pesticides, and chemical feedstocks.
- Adopt absolute GHG emissions reduction targets with short-, medium-, and long-term sectoral benchmarks that include indirect emissions (scope 3) and account for the full petrochemical supply chain.
- Adopt environmental and social policies that prohibit the financing of any petrochemical company with repeated violations of environmental regulations, human rights, or Indigenous Peoples’ sovereignty.
- End financing for any company with petrochemical projects in communities of color and low-income communities that are already overburdened by pollution and cumulative environmental harm.
For Asset Managers and Investors:
- Divest from companies proposing or advancing petrochemical expansion in the US.
- Require all petrochemical investee companies to develop and publicly disclose credible and 1.5°C-aligned just transition plans that prioritize immediate fossil fuel phase-out and exclude reliance on unproven technologies to prevent irreversible biodiversity loss and climate injustice.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
[Name]