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JPMorgan Chase Announces it Will Support World Wildlife Fund’s Earth Hour 2009


WEBWIRE

Joins Tens of Millions in Turning Off Lights for Largest Climate Event in History

New York - JPMorgan Chase & Co. announced that it will support action against climate change by participating in Earth Hour 2009, a World Wildlife Fund global event to switch off all non-essential lighting for one hour on March 28. The company will participate by powering down landmark buildings and other sites in 35 cities worldwide and will urge its employees to do the same.

The bank’s most significant buildings in cities such as New York, Chicago, Houston, London, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Sydney and Melbourne will go dark. All told, more than 65 JPMorgan Chase facilities in 19 countries and five continents will take part as Earth Hour rolls through the world’s 24 time zones.

JPMorgan Chase will join corporations, organizations, governments and individuals in more than 240 cities around the world in supporting Earth Hour, which begins at 8:30 pm local time. Tens of millions of people from all corners of the world are expected to participate in this call for global action on climate change.

Earth Hour participation is only one of many steps JPMorgan Chase has taken to reduce its environmental footprint. The bank also has committed to reduce its own greenhouse gas emissions 20% by 2012, using 2005 as a baseline. It is working to make its data centers and office buildings more energy efficient and to offset emissions related to employee air travel for the first time in 2008-a practice the bank will continue in the future.

“World Wildlife Fund is pleased that JPMorgan Chase is taking part in Earth Hour 2009,” said WWF President and CEO Carter Roberts. “The climate crisis is threatening the ability of our planet to support its inhabitants in the future. Not only is energy efficiency good for the bottom line, but smart companies know they must operate in ways that don’t deplete our world’s limited natural resources if they want to stay in business in the long term. Earth Hour is a great time for companies to find ways to reduce their environmental footprint-not only in their own operations, but throughout their supply chain.”

At participating locations, all exterior signs-including those on rooftops-and exterior lighting will be shut down. All interior lighting will be shut down, except where doing so would create a safety issue or have a negative business impact. At locations that are leased instead of owned, lights will be turned off on JPMorgan Chase floors.

During Earth Hour 2008, more than 50 million people in 400 cities on all seven continents turned off their lights as major icons also went dark, including the Sydney Opera House, the Coliseum in Rome, Stockholm’s Royal Castle, the Empire State Building and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. JPMorgan Chase sites in Chicago and Phoenix were among the businesses that participated in 2008.

About JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $2.2 trillion and operations in more than 60 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers, small business and commercial banking, financial transaction processing, asset management, and private equity. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co. serves millions of consumers in the United States and many of the world’s most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P. Morgan, Chase, and WaMu brands. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.



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