NEW YORK CITY The six largest U.S.

banking institutions on Monday called for a

strong global climate agreement and policies that recognize the cost of carbon.

JP Morgan Chase Bank, Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo, and Citibank the four
largest commercial banks with assets of $6.5 trillion according to Federal Reserve
data along with Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the largest and second largest
investment banks with $1.1 trillion in managed mergers and acquisitions also
committed to provide significant resources to finance climate solutions.

At a press conference in New York, officers from these banks issued their open
letter, timed to coincide with the start of the United Nations General Assembly's
new session for which climate change and sustainable development dominate the
agenda. This current UN meeting is seen as a chance to forward hopes for a climate
deal at the COP21 UN Climate Convention in Paris later this year.

The banks minced no words that they also view global warming as indeed happening,
and threatening prosperity.
The banks described a business opportunity in financing a low-carbon economy
and minced no words that they also view global warming as indeed happening, and
threatening prosperity.

Scientific research finds that an increasing concentration of greenhouse gases in

our atmosphere is warming the planet, posing significant risks to the prosperity
and growth of the global economy, the banks wrote and released at a meeting
organized by the CERES investment network.

As major financial institutions, working with clients and customers around the
globe, we have the business opportunity to build a more sustainable, low-carbon
economy and the ability to help manage and mitigate these climate-related risks,
they wrote.

Their strong, unequivocal words ring out against the backdrop of a presidential
campaign in which candidates of one party have said in national debate that trying
to stem global warming and reduce carbon emissions would hurt the economy. And in
Congress, climate change is still a political football, with Senate Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell vowing to prevent the U.S. from committing to a UN Climate
Convention agreement to reduce carbon emissions.

Citibank's Valerie C. Smith, director and head of corporate sustainability, said

the banks' action reflects both a transition in the market towards low-carbon
solutions and their sense of a responsibiilty to "accelerate that transition."

We are financiers of the global economy," Smith said about Citi, and likely about
the group of powerful banks generally, speaking to a gathering of officials and
reporters organized by Ceres, the investor network and sustainability advocate.

"Weve always been clear that fossil fuels are part of global economy, but we also
are seeing transitions" and imperatives. "We are all about climate partnerships,"
she continued. "We are seeing clients move really quickly to transition" to clean
power. The group statement, Smith said, "is meant to accelerate the transition."

Anne Kelly, senior director of policy at Ceres said these six banks are fierce
"competitors" in the marketplace "so to have them come together to make a statement
like this," is a big deal