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$1.29 of green finance in 2023 for every $1 of high carbon

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Follows pressure from New York public pension trustee

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Helped by reduced demand for bank capital from oil firms

By Simon Jessop, Virginia Furness and Ross Kerber

BAKU, Nov 14 (Reuters) - The United States' biggest

lender JPMorgan ( JPM ) provided $1.29 in financing to green

energy for every dollar backing high-carbon energy supply in

2023, executives told Reuters, the first time it has released

the figure.

The decision by the bank - a major funder of traditional

energy companies - to disclose an Energy Supply Financing Ratio

followed engagement with New York City Comptroller Brad Lander,

who oversees public pension money.

Banks are increasingly under pressure from investors to show

how they are helping clients in the transition to clean energy,

and JPMorgan's ( JPM ) announcement comes as negotiators meet at a

United Nations conference in Baku to discuss the move away from

fossil fuels.

JPMorgan ( JPM ) said its new measure, to be included in a report

scheduled for release on Thursday, is meant to capture the

energy mix of a company's capital investments rather than its

current asset base.

When calculating the ratio, JPMorgan ( JPM ) considered its

financing activities such as loans, debt underwriting,

tax-oriented investments and green bonds, and classified these

as either for high- or low-carbon energy.

For companies that do both, for example a power utility with

both natural gas and renewable assets, the bank looked at

forward-looking data such as the client's capital expenditures

to decide how to classify the financing, said Rama Variankaval,

JPMorgan's ( JPM ) Global Head of Corporate Advisory.

JPMorgan ( JPM ) has previously said it aims to finance $2.5

trillion in sustainable development by 2030, with $1 trillion of

that focused on climate solutions.

JPMorgan's ( JPM ) lending to green energy had grown in recent

years, amid a reduction in demand for external finance from

cash-rich oil companies.

The ratio was affected by "the very deliberate strategy of

JPMorgan ( JPM ) to do more low-carbon financing and also partly because

the oil and gas sector has come to the capital markets far

less," Variankaval said.

While it remains unclear whether U.S. companies will face a

domestic rule on climate-related disclosures under the

climate-sceptic government of incoming President Donald Trump,

more banks are set to provide similar ratios in the future.

Despite not setting a target ratio, JPMorgan ( JPM ) is "optimistic

in the long-term outlook for low-carbon energy in the U.S. and,

candidly, across the world", said Global Head of Sustainability

Heather Zichal.

"Our focus has been, and will continue to be, on scaling the

technologies that the world needs, and supporting our clients in

every sector as they are adapting to a rapidly changing

economy," Zichal said.

(Editing by Stephen Coates)