A Q&A with JPMorganChase’s Global Head of Sustainability Heather Zichal

JPMorganChase’s Global Head of Sustainability Heather Zichal is helping the firm's clients navigate the challenges and realize the economic opportunities of the transition to a low-carbon economy.

Creating jobs, driving economic growth, sparking American and global manufacturing and technology innovation, providing low-cost energy and reducing air pollution are all benefits of the energy transition.

In this Q&A, Heather discusses her perspective on the important role we can all play in the path to a lower-carbon, energy rich future:

Prior to your current role, you had a long career in the public sector. Now being in the private sector, why is it important to engage with climate leaders in the public sector?

Throughout my career I’ve worked at the cross section of policy, politics and communications on climate and sustainability issues in Washington, D.C., in both the U.S. House and Senate and then the White House for the Obama Administration.

In my current role leading our firmwide sustainability strategy, we proactively engage policymakers and regulators on behalf of our business. The public sector has a particularly important role to play when it comes to climate, because thoughtful, smart and consistent public policy will be needed to advance the low carbon transition and to help create the economic conditions that will enable banks like us to provide financing to climate solutions.

Alongside government, we also have an important role to play, supporting our clients and facilitating capital. One of the many exciting things about my role is the opportunity to merge my policy background with our focus on contributing to actionable, market-based solutions, in order to help scale climate finance.

From your vantage point, what are the key challenges and opportunities of the energy transition?

The energy transition is a massive economic opportunity. Estimates show that meeting global climate goals could require something like $5 trillion of investment per year. Investment at this level could generate economy-wide growth and opportunity at a scale the world has not seen since the Industrial Revolution.

That is why we’re helping our clients accelerate their low carbon transitions and providing clean energy financing with a target of $1 trillion for green activities by the end of 2030.

At the same time, the energy transition is a significant global challenge, requiring action from both governments and private sector actors to overcome economic, systemic and policy barriers. This includes the need for constructive government action on taxes, permitting, energy grids and infrastructure.

That is why we continue to work with our clients to identify major hurdles to tackling the carbon transition—such as the need for permitting reform, electric grid modernization and interconnection—to seek to move forward with concrete solutions.

Companies, investors and governments must think creatively and strategically, looking around the corner as well as making investments today to position themselves for the future.

What insights have you gained from major global climate events such as the annual U.N. climate conference?

These convenings provide opportunities to bring together key actors from across the sustainability ecosystem. Engaging in dialogue is one of the best ways to make connections, identify actionable solutions and pave a path forward.

These events provide us the opportunity to share our expertise around climate and energy and strengthen relationships with clients, investors, government officials, NGOs and other stakeholders. Our participation also deepens our understanding of external views on the changing political and industry environment around sustainability.

How do you see JPMorganChase’s sustainability efforts evolving over the next five to ten years?

Collectively, the world has made real progress in the energy transition. Across industries, we need to do a better job of celebrating and championing concrete successes and tangible milestones. For example, J.P. Morgan helped raise $100 million in financing for Electric Hydrogen, which is working to advance the production, manufacturing and deployment of electrolyzers to enable fossil-parity green hydrogen.

Looking ahead, it is clear there is a commercial opportunity to decarbonizing the economy. As low carbon technologies continue to evolve and become more advanced and economically viable, tech will play a role in accelerating the transition. I see our efforts playing out in three different ways:

We’ll continue to focus on scaling green solutions through our goal to finance and facilitate $1T for green initiatives by 2030; We’ll engage with policymakers on addressing the challenges facing our clients as they navigate the transition; We’ll seek to manage the environmental footprint of our own operations by optimizing our energy use and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.