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Why Megabanks are Bad News
Money from big banks funds fossil fuels, factory farms, weapons of war, and other destructive industries. Better banking is possible with a community development bank or credit union. Your money can help fund a better world.
Better Banking Starts Here
Money from big banks funds fossil fuels, factory farms, weapons of war, and other destructive industries. Better banking is possible with a community development bank or credit union. Your money can help fund a better world.
Big Banks Increasing Fossil Fuel Finance
Since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, when all nations of the world agreed to hold global warming to 1.5°C, the world’s 65 largest banks have plowed $7.9 trillion into fossil-fuel financing -- and the amount these banks have committed to fossil fuel extraction, transportation, transmission, distribution, combustion, trade, and storage rose by $162 billion in 2024, according to the 2025 Banking on Climate Chaos report.
Of those 65 largest banks, 10 are based in the United States. These 10 plowed $289.4 billion into fossil fuels in 2024 -- $75.7 billion more than the previous year. Here are the 10 largest U.S. banks and their lending and underwriting to the fossil fuel industry from 2023 to 2024:
| Bank Rank | Bank Name | 2024 fossil fuel finance (in billions) | Change in financing 2023-2024 (in billions) |
| 1 | JPMorgan Chase | $53.5B | +$15B |
| 2 | Bank of America | $46B | +$12.7B |
| 3 | Citigroup | $44.7B | +$14.9B |
| 5 | Wells Fargo | $39.3B | +$9.1B |
| 10 | Goldman Sachs | $28.5B | +$9.5B |
| 12 | Morgan Stanley | $27B | +$7.6B |
| 19 | Truist Financial | $16.6B | +$2.3B |
| 22 | PNC Financial Services | $15.3B | +$2.6B |
| 25 | US Bancorp | $13B | +$0.863B |
| 40 | Capital One | $5.5B | +$1.1B |
| Total for US megabanks | $289.4B | +$75.7B |
Your deposits in megabanks support fossil fuels
Because banks use money that people have deposited to make loans, the money deposited in accounts at US megabanks is disproportionately being used to finance fossil fuel projects.
- Every $1,000 in savings at a U.S. megabank is roughly equivalent to the direct emissions generated by flying from New York to Seattle every year, according to Project Drawdown.
- Just $62,500 at a U.S. megabank could be responsible for as much carbon (about 8 tons) as all the heating, driving, flying, cooling and cooking an average American does in six months, according to Kat Taylor of Beneficial State Bank and Bill McKibben of Third Act.
- On average, $24 of every $100 lent by Wall Street megabanks are repurposed to fossil fuels, according to BankFWD. Find your megabank’s carbon footprint.
Please note that many Canadian, European, Asian, and South American banks also do business in the United States. If your bank is headquartered in another country, you can check the Banking on Climate Chaos report to see if it is one of the top 65 fossil banks.
Ready to find a better bank or credit union? Our Get a Better Bank Map can help!
