Actress and activist Jane Fonda and Sharon Lavigne, one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2024, joined the public hearing confronting Citigroup’s environmental racism.
The hearing examined how the bank’s funding of oil, coal, and gas directly harms Black, Indigenous, and Global South communities. It culminated in demands for Citigroup to immediately stop funding fossil fuels, publicly acknowledge harm the bank has caused communities of color, respect Indigenous rights, and invest in a just transition to sustainable energy.
April 22, 2024
NEW YORK CITY – On Monday, April 22, 2024, environmental leaders from communities on the frontlines of climate change convened the first-of-its kind Earth Day hearing on Citigroup’s environmental racism. Actor and activist Jane Fonda kicked off the hearing and introduced the hearing chair, Roishetta Ozane, a Black leader and environmental activist from Sulphur, Louisiana, and founder of the Vessel Project. The hearing culminated in a set of demands on Citigroup aimed at fixing the harms the bank has caused to impacted communities, including immediately ending funding for fossil fuels, publicly acknowledging harm the bank has caused communities of color, respect Indigenous rights, and investing in a just transition to sustainable energy
Photos and videos of the hearing can be found here. Members of the media have full permission to all photos and videos.
As the world’s second-largest funder of coal, oil, and gas, Citi has poured over $332 billion into climate-ravaging fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement was adopted in 2016 – making billionaires even richer while everyday people are choking on wildfire smoke, losing their homes to floods, and trying to survive sweltering heat waves.
Speakers at the hearing included Sharon Lavigne, of RISE St. James, among Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of 2024; Olivia Bisa, President of the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Chapra nationality, who has faced death threats for her opposition to fossil fuel projects in Peru; and Sister Susan Francois of the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace in New Jersey which for three years has filed a shareholder resolution at Citi on Indigenous rights and fossil fuel funding.
The hearing took place at St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery and was organized by Climate Defenders, New York Communities for Change, STAND.earth, Stop the Money Pipeline, and Texas Campaign for the Environment. Panel topics included the health impacts of fossil fuel build-out on the Gulf South, defending indigenous peoples’ rights, and solutions to climate change.
Black and Indigenous environmental activists are building a movement to stop big banks from destroying the planet and say that this hearing was just the beginning of a wave of actions.
Olivia Bisa, President of the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Chapra Nation in Perú said, “Citi talks about respecting the Free, Prior and Informed Consent of Indigenous communities as set down by the UN, but it has clients like Petroperú which refuse to recognize the right to say no of seven Indigenous nations in the Peruvian Amazon. Petroperu’s disregard for Indigenous rights should mean something to the banks that lend them money; but in reality their mutual business continues. If they are serious about Indigenous rights, Citi must hold its clients accountable to ensure that their due diligence adheres to international standards of Free, Prior and Informed Consent.”
Roishetta Ozane, founder of the Vessel Project of Louisiana, said, “The petrochemical facilities Citigroup funds are not bringing economic development in our communities. They’re polluting the air and water and making us sick, including my own children, three of whom suffer from asthma and one from eczema. Citigroup is hurting our communities, and it’s especially hurting Black community in the Gulf South. We want Citigroup to stop funding fossil fuels and to stop hurting our communities and our families.”
“I want Citigroup’s CEO Jane Fraser to look me in the eye and tell me who is supposed to take care of our community members who are sick from pollution — because we have a lot of illness from pollution in our community. And who is going to bury them.” said Manning Rollerson, founder of the Freeport Haven Project for Environmental Justice. “Who is going to pay for the ongoing harm to our community? First, Black residents of Freeport were ordered that we could only live in the East End, then we were denied services for years while paying taxes, and now our whole community has been displaced so that Port Freeport can build warehouses and parking lots to continue shipping petrochemicals.”
Sharon Lavigne, founder of RISE St. James, named one of Time Magazine’s Most Influential People of 2024, said, “Where I live in St. James Parish is part of the notorious Cancer Alley – an 85-mile stretch in the Gulf South with high pollution and high rates of asthma and cancer. We have a funeral at least every week, sometimes two or three times a week. The cause is pollution from the 12 petrochemical plants and oil refineries within a 10-mile radius of St. James Parish. Citigroup could be part of the solution, but right now they are part of the problem since Citigroup has invested hundreds of millions into Formosa Plastics, which wants to open another plant in our Parish. That would be a death sentence for us.”
Sister Susan Francois, of the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace, said, “I am supporting the hearing to show the true interest of the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace in present and future generations impacted by the oil, gas and coal projects. Pope Francis has set out clearly the Church’s role in addressing projects in communities which result in a decline in their quality of life, the clearing of their land and the robbing of joy and hope for the future. Because of this, today’s hearing is of critical importance. For three years in a row, we have filed shareholder proposals with Citi asking for a report on the effectiveness of their policies to respect Indigenous rights. More than 30% of investors support this request because they know human rights violations are bad for business.”
Russell Armstrong, Senior Director, Campaigns & Advocacy for the Hip Hop Caucus, said, “I am participating in this hearing because financial institutions must prioritize climate justice and racial justice in all of their business decisions today for the possibility of a healthier and safer tomorrow. Repairing our communities will require the financial industry to agree that financing the fossil fuel industry is more than an ineligible use of funds, but is also harmful. Hip Hop Caucus is committed to strengthening the power of frontline communities of color.”
Armstrong continued, “In Citi’s Corporate Social Responsibility statements they say they “feel responsible for the community in which it operates” and we couldn’t agree more. That is why we are calling on Citibank to come meet with the frontline communities in the Gulf South and bear witness to how the additional billions in financing for fossil fuels since the 2016 Paris Agreements is not helping “build more sustainable, diverse and equitable communities” that they proudly stay they are “playing a leading role to drive the banking industry into a more sustainable future“.
“We charge Citi with environmental racism: the bank’s record of harming communities of color has gone on too long,” Hannah Saggau, Fossil Free Citi Campaign Organizer at Stand.earth said. “We demand that Citi stop financing fossil fuel companies and start investing in frontline communities’ health and a climate-safe future.”
Gabriel Alexandre, student at Leaders High School in Brooklyn, said, “Every year, during winter break, it seems as if my sister says the same, disappointing words to me: “How come there’s no snow this year? I miss making snow angels and having snowball fights!” And every year, we have to explain the same thing to her: The earth is getting warmer. This is why we’re demanding that Citigroup halt all investments into new oil and gas projects and instead invest money into green energy alternatives.”
Naomi Yoder, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Data Manager at the Bullard Center for Environmental and Climate Justice at Texas Southern University, said, “The evidence is clear: fossil fuels extraction and petrochemical production in the United States is an environmental injustice. We have the opportunity to change course, and we the people ask the banks and the corporations and the insurers to join us in enacting anti-racist, anti-oppressive policies, now.”
Below is a full list of demands that came out of the hearing.
To begin addressing the harm caused by the $332 billion in financing for fossil fuels that Citi has provided since the Paris Agreement in 2016, Citi must commit to dramatically increasing financing of climate solutions and a just transition for and led by communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis. This commitment must be overseen by an advisory committee made up of majority Black, Indigenous, low-income, and Global South climate leaders.
Citi executive leadership will publicly acknowledge and apologize for the harm they have inflicted by financing the fossil fuel industry, including the human and ecological mass deaths as a result of the climate crisis. The Executive leadership will meet with community leaders on the frontlines of the climate crisis. They will travel to regions that have been harmed to understand firsthand how the projects and companies that Citi finances have affected everyday people.
Press Contacts:
Jonathan Westin, Climate Defenders, 917 637 9501
Emily Pomilio, Stand.earth, [email protected]
Alicé Nascimento, New York Communities for Change, [email protected]
Investor nuns and Baptists will hold major banks accountable over their impact on Indigenous communities through resolutions at next week’s annual shareholder meetings (Tuesday, April 29).
The investors will demand that Citi and Wells Fargo demonstrate that their policies and practices are effective in respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights—a critical issue that both banks have failed to address during the four years of proposal filings.
In contrast, JPMorgan Chase has recently made progress on its Indigenous Peoples’ rights commitments, following ongoing dialogue with investors, leading to the withdrawal of a similar proposal at JPMorgan this year. The bank disclosed that it considers free, prior, and informed consent —a fundamental aspect of Indigenous Peoples’ rights—before proceeding with transactions that may pose risks to Indigenous Peoples, and that this applies to their general corporate financing, in addition to their project financing. This represents a significant step in ensuring that Indigenous Peoples’ rights are not violated through banking financing. Investors are now asking: Why can’t Citi and Wells Fargo do the same?
The lead filers of the proposals, the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace and the American Baptist Home Mission Societies, succeeded in facing down both banks’ attempts to silence their shareholder proposals after the SEC ruled in March that they should go to investors for a vote.
Citi, one of the largest financiers of oil and gas operations in the Amazon rainforest, has been under scrutiny for funding companies linked to oil spills and human rights violations, including Petroperú, PetroAmazonas, and Frontera Energy. Despite Petroperú’s history as a major polluter in the Peruvian Amazon, Citi participated in a $1.3 billion syndicated loan and has acted as a solicitation agent for $3 billion in bonds for its Talara Refinery. Groups argue that this debt incentivizes more crude production in Amazonian blocks where Indigenous peoples have staunchly opposed oil activities, translating to legal risks.
Oil extracted from these blocks will also likely travel through Petroperú’s North Peruvian Pipeline–which has had at least 139 oil spills from 1997 to 2023. The pipeline remains a source of contamination, environmental degradation, and health risk for communities. In October 2024, the pipeline leaked over 6,000 liters of oil in the Peruvian Amazon, threatening Indigenous Quechua and Achuar peoples.
Meanwhile, Citi’s report on “Respecting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” remains vague and lacking in meaningful analysis, and has not assuaged investors’ concerns. The continued violations and environmental harm demonstrate that the report does nothing to address or resolve these critical issues.
Similarly, Wells Fargo’s financing decisions are under scrutiny amidst its recent decision to abandon climate commitments, including its net-zero target. The bank has provided over $3.86 billion in funding to Enbridge, which is attempting to develop the Rio Bravo gas pipeline through the ancestral lands of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of South Texas, without their consent and despite fierce community opposition.
Additionally, Citi and JPMorgan have agreed to disclose their energy finance ratios, yet Wells Fargo has failed to do so and will face another shareholder resolution on this issue at the upcoming AGM.
Last year, the resolutions addressing Indigenous Peoples’ rights received support from one in four investors at both Citi and Wells Fargo, with the proposal at JPMorgan securing 30.8% support, reflecting a growing demand among investors for banks to align their policies with internationally recognized standards on Indigenous rights and climate accountability.
As these shareholder resolutions continue to gain momentum, investors are making it clear that they expect meaningful action from banks to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights, reduce their financing of harmful projects, and address the climate crisis.
Sister Susan Francois, CSJP
“Proposal 6 simply asks Citi to report how they are respecting the human rights of Indigenous Peoples in their financing efforts. Without transparency, investors cannot effectively evaluate the bank’s exposure to regulatory, legal, and reputational risks.”
“As faith-based investors, we are called to care for creation and uphold the dignity of all people. Specifically, Pope Francis has named the moral imperative to include Indigenous Peoples in projects involving significant changes in environment or high levels of contamination on their lands. Citi has a duty of care to ensure that its investments do not violate Indigenous Peoples’ rights. It is common sense, good business, and the right thing to do.”
Gina Haas, American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS)
“We continue to file this resolution at Wells Fargo because meaningful change is still urgently needed. As investors, we demand transparency, accountability, and for Indigenous Peoples’ rights to be respected. Supporting this proposal is not only a moral obligation but a sound business decision. We urge investors to stand for Indigenous rights and vote in favor of this resolution.”
Hannah Saggau, Senior Climate Finance Campaigner at Stand.earth, said:
“Shareholders should take note that if JPMorgan Chase, as the world’s largest fossil fuel funder, can strengthen its policies to respect Indigenous Rights, then Wells Fargo and Citi must, too. From Turtle Island to Amazonia, we are holding banks accountable for climate chaos and violating Indigenous sovereignty. Wells Fargo and Citi must steer clear of any deals that make them complicit in rights violations.”
Olivia Bisa, President of the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Chapra Nation
“Major investors and financiers, such as Citigroup, have generated an insurmountable oil debt in our country, Perú. Now, the pressure to pay this debt continues to push our government to open new oil blocks in our Amazonian territories and in the oceans, creating conflicts among us who legitimately oppose oil activities, which have brought disease and destruction.”
Mary Mijares, Corporate Campaigns Manager, Amazon Watch
“To truly respect Indigenous rights, Citi must directly listen, understand, and meaningfully address the concerns of Indigenous peoples who repeatedly endure and persist against its oil clients that promote life-threatening fossil fuel projects, especially in the Amazon basin. Citi’s bold claim that it has sufficiently addressed Indigenous rights concerns should unnerve its shareholders, as the situation for oil-impacted Indigenous communities on the ground remains difficult–worsened by already existing bank fossil financing.”
Kate Finn, Executive Director, Tallgrass Institute
“Banks must ensure a comprehensive approach to client relationships that respects all of the rights of Indigenous Peoples while safeguarding investors from operational, reputational, and legal risks that stem from clients’ violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Explicit recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights as enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), including the right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), is integral to that endeavor.”
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United Church Funds (UCF), in collaboration with the Investor Advocates for Social Justice (IASJ), has reached an agreement with JPMorgan Chase, marking significant progress in advancing Indigenous rights within the financial sector. As part of this agreement, UCF has withdrawn a 2025 shareholder proposal that called on JPMorgan to evaluate the effectiveness of the company’s policies, practices and performance indicators in respecting the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Over the past several months, UCF and IASJ — alongside co-filers Maryknoll Sisters of St. Dominic, School Sisters of Notre Dame Collective Investment Fund and the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Peace, engaged in multiple dialogues with JPMorgan to underscore the importance of Indigenous rights in both project-specific and general corporate financing. Through sustained, good-faith engagement, the parties reached an agreement that marks a meaningful step toward greater transparency.
As a result of these active engagements, JPMorgan has agreed to include new disclosures in its proxy supplement related to its Nature and Social (N&S) policies. Notably, the disclosure states that the company will consider free, prior and informed consent where risks are identified before proceeding with transactions that may have material implications for Indigenous Peoples — including general corporate purpose, asset-specific financing and capital facilitation activities. It also affirms that JPMorgan will consider a range of internationally recognized principles when assessing risks related to Indigenous Peoples — an approach further outlined in the company’s updated 2025 Human Rights Statement.
Matthew Illian, UCF’s Director of Responsible Investing, said: “Investors are increasingly aware that failing to consider the rights of Indigenous Peoples can expose companies to serious financial, legal and reputational risks. We’re encouraged by JPMorgan Chase’s commitment to greater engagement on this issue, and we see this agreement as an important step toward more responsible, resilient investment practices that benefit all stakeholders.”
A forthcoming disclosure expected later in 2025 will provide further detail on JPMorgan’s internal firmwide policies and standards. It is anticipated that JPMorgan will identify and evaluate risks related to Indigenous Peoples, and, where appropriate, engage with companies, and may require them to address these concerns prior to moving forward with financing or transactional support.
Caitlin Seznec, Program Director of Climate + Dignity at IASJ, said: “We recognize that this agreement reflects meaningful progress, while acknowledging that important work is still ahead to ensure the full respect of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. We appreciate JPMorgan’s responsiveness to investor concerns and look forward to continued engagement. As one of the largest U.S. banks, JPMorgan has the opportunity to lead its peers in advancing respect for Indigenous Peoples’ rights. This agreement marks a step in that direction.”
The JPMorgan Chase proposal was one of three proposals on this issue filed at major U.S. banks this year. Similar proposals remain on the proxy statements at Citigroup and Wells Fargo and will go to a vote at their respective upcoming annual meetings on April 29, 2025.
About United Church Funds
United Church Funds (UCF) is the leading provider of socially responsible, values-aligned investment management services to United Church of Christ churches and ministries, as well as all faith-based organizations. We offer customized investment portfolios and prudent investment strategies that provide competitive returns while also reflecting our clients’ values in seeking to achieve a just world. UCF also offers endowment governance consulting, planned giving programs and superior, personalized service from our dedicated Client Services team. To learn more about how UCF can help your church or faith-based organization further its mission while achieving its long-term financial goals, please visit www.ucfunds.org, email us at [email protected] or call us toll-free at 877-806-4989.
About Investor Advocate for Social Justice
Investor Advocates for Social Justice (IASJ) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization representing investors with faith-based values who seek to leverage their investments to advance human rights, climate justice, racial equity, and the common good. On behalf of our Affiliates, we engage companies to address strategic environmental, social, and governance issues and advocate for change. IASJ uses a variety of shareholder advocacy strategies to encourage corporations to adopt more ethical and sustainable business practices, and believes in seeking out and building collaborative partners who share similar goals, in an effort to increase the effectiveness and impact of our work.
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