Dive Brief:
- JPMorgan Chase has named Chuka Umunna its global head of sustainable solutions, the executive said in a LinkedIn post last week.
- Umunna, a former member of the British Parliament, is taking on that title in addition to his duties as head of the bank’s green economy investment banking for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Umunna has led ESG and green investing efforts in EMEA since joining the bank in 2021.
- Umunna’s appointment comes as Senate Democrats are pressing JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon on the bank’s alleged “about-face” on climate and environmental commitments.
Dive Insight:
In his expanded role, Umunna will lead JPMorgan’s global ESG and sustainability team.
Umunna told London’s Financial News last month he prefers the term “sustainability” over ESG.
“There’s been a move toward using the term sustainability in the U.S. over ESG just because it has become quite a politically loaded phrase,” he told Financial News. “Whereas in Europe, I think the two terms are used interchangeably.”
JPMorgan has been an occasional target of the anti-ESG movement typically led by conservatives who assert the bank has backed off its financing of certain sectors over environmental concerns.
But the bank has also consistently taken flak from advocacy groups such as the Rainforest Action Network, which has tabbed JPMorgan as the top financier of fossil fuels in nearly every year since 2016.
JPMorgan’s research has shown the clean energy transition could take “decades or generations.”
The bank in February exited the Climate Action 100+ coalition, alongside State Street.
And Dimon’s annual letter to shareholders included a shift in tone on climate. In that letter, Dimon said JPMorgan would use the term “commitments” for its climate and environmental goals more sparingly, replacing them with “aspirations.”
Umunna, for his part, joined JPMorgan as its managing director and head of ESG for EMEA, before a title change to head of EMEA ESG and green economy investment banking in 2023.
As global head of sustainable solutions, Umunna will be providing advice and transaction support for clients looking to advance sustainable solutions or for access to sustainability-focused capital in the equity, debt and private markets, according to his LinkedIn post.
Prior to joining JPMorgan, Umunna spent nearly a year as global co-head of ESG at consulting firm Edelman and was a member of the European Council on Foreign Relations from 2018 to 2021. Umunna served in the British Parliament for more than nine years — first as a member of the Labour Party before joining the Liberal Democrats.
As an MP, Umunna served on a Treasury committee to inquire about the 2008-09 global financial crash and later as a shadow minister for small business and enterprise, and shadow secretary of state for business, innovation and skills for the Labour Party. For the Liberal Democrats, he served as treasury and business spokesperson and then shadow foreign secretary, responsible for international trade.
Umunna’s appointment comes as Dimon reportedly was floated as a potential treasury secretary pick for a second Donald Trump presidential term, though Trump has since walked it back.
When asked about Dimon, Trump initially told Bloomberg that the JPMorgan CEO is “somebody that [he] would consider” and has “a lot of respect” for.
But Trump ended the speculation a week later on his Truth Social platform, also denying reports from the New York Post that BlackRock CEO Larry Fink could also be a contender for treasury secretary.
