New York, NY -- Today, multinational investment bank Goldman Sachs announced an updated energy policy that rules out financing for new oil drilling or exploration in the Arctic, including the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The policy also rules out financing for new thermal coal mines and coal-fired power projects worldwide, though the policy fails to go as far on tar sands and fracking.

With this announcement, Goldman Sachs joins a growing number of major financial institutions rejecting drilling in the Arctic. More than a dozen of the world’s largest banks have made similar commitments, including UniCredit, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Barclays. Goldman Sachs is the first major American bank to prohibit new Arctic oil financing, and the first major American bank to rule out funding new thermal coal mining and coal power projects worldwide.

In recent months, leaders from the Gwich’in Steering Committee and the Sierra Club have met with representatives from Goldman Sachs and other major banks to discuss the threats fossil fuel operations pose to the Arctic Refuge and why action by the financial industry is necessary.

“The Trump administration may not care about ignoring the will of the American people or trampling Indigenous rights, but a growing number of major financial institutions are making it clear that they do,” said Sierra Club campaign representative Ben Cushing. “Goldman Sachs is right to recognize that destroying the Arctic Refuge would be bad business. We hope other American banks will follow their lead.”

“Drilling in the Arctic Refuge would permanently destroy the primary food source of the Gwich’in people, our culture, and our way of life,” said Bernadette Demientieff, Executive Director of the Gwich’in Steering Committee. “The Trump administration may have made up their minds about selling off this sacred place, but the fight is far from over. We’re glad to see Goldman Sachs recognize that the Arctic Refuge is no place for drilling and we hope that other banks, and the oil companies they fund, will follow their lead.”

Additional context and analysis of the Goldman Sachs policy can be found here.