Conscientious Investments: The Carbon Principles

Banks Set Emissions Standard for U.S. Power Industry
1999 -- By Lisa Lee, Reuters via ENN

Three Wall Street banks said on Monday they will set environmental standards that factor in risks posed by carbon-emissions when lending to power companies that seek to build coal-fired power plants.

Citigroup Inc, JP Morgan Chase & Co and Morgan Stanley will form "The Carbon Principles," climate change guidelines for advisors and lenders to power companies in the United States.

The banks developed the principles in consultation with environmental organizations and power companies, including American Electric Power Co, the nation's largest consumer of coal, and Southern Co, the largest utility company in the coal-heavy Southeast.

Financing of projects with high carbon dioxide-emitting technologies will be evaluated using a new framework that factors in the potential carbon risks, they said.