Wall Street’s biggest banks simultaneously left the same net-zero climate alliance that was explored by Republican lawmakers last year and announced just weeks before. President-elect Donald Trump will be sworn in.
As of 2021, banking giants are prominent members of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), a global group of financial institutions “committed to financing ambitious climate action” to move the economy to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
However, since December, six of the world’s largest banks, JP Morgan, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America, have all separately announced that they will leave the alliance, encouraging member banks to additionally ‘leave the alliance to design, to set up’. and achieving science-based net zero targets.
The banks said they remain committed to emissions reduction targets, but will do so independently.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. sign and building exterior seen in New York City. (Plexi Images)
“We will continue to work independently to advance the interests of our company, our shareholders and our customers and remain focused on pragmatic solutions to advance low-carbon technologies while advancing energy security,” said a spokesperson for JP Morgan, the latter bank who has withdrawn. of the alliance, said a statement.
BlackRock, the world’s largest investment firm, also announced Thursday that it is splitting from a major climate group, the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, which is working with asset managers to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner.
The synchronicity of the exits comes just weeks ahead of Trump, who is expected to break away from President Biden’s target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and possible withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, will assume the presidency.
A Wall Street sign in front of the New York Stock Exchange in New York City on Wednesday, July 31, 2024. (Michael Nagel)
“The sudden exodus of these major US banks from the NZBA is an attempt to avoid criticism from Trump and his climate denial minions,” said Paddy McCully, a senior analyst at Reclaim Finance, the Guardian reported.
“A few years ago, when climate change was at the top of the political agenda, banks were keen to brag about their promises to take action on climate,” McCully added. “Now that the political pendulum has swung the other way, climate action suddenly doesn’t seem as important to Wall Street lenders.”
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The exits come nearly a year after a group of Republicans removed themselves from the House of Representatives launched a probe in the six banks about their involvement in the international alliance and claims that it could impact the agricultural sector.
