Net zero banking group abandons operations after member exodus
The global Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) has announced it will cease operations following an exodus of its membership after President Donald Trump returned to power.
In a statement released on Friday, the group said following a vote it will transfer from a member-based alliance to establish its guidance as a framework.
“As a result of this decision, NZBA will cease operations immediately”.
It follows banking giants across the globe rowing back on environment, social and governance (ESG) policies leading to them ditching the group.
Wall Street kicked off its rapid departure from the club following President Donald Trump’s victory in the November 2024 election after he ran on the anti-ESG motto “drill baby drill”.
Goldman Sachs announced its exit in the month following Trump’s win. By January, JP Morgan became the last to exit the alliance sealing a complete Wall Street exodus after Citi, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo all quit the group.
The Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Montreal and Toronto-Dominion Bank departed at the end of January marking a total erasure of North America from NZBA.
City banks followed Wall Street in net zero exodus
In London, the City’s banking titans followed suit with Wall Street. HSBC exited in July, followed by Barclays in August, which claimed the group “no longer has the membership to support our transition”.
“The Guidance for Climate Target Setting for Banks and supporting implementation resources are the most widely used global banking framework focused specifically on setting decarbonisation targets and will remain publicly available,” the group said in a statement today.
“Individual banks worldwide can continue to use and reference these resources to help develop and deliver on their own net-zero transition plans.”
Earlier this year, the boss of FTSE 100 titan Standard Chartered blasted peers for ditching ESG commitments.
Bill Winters, the bank’s chief executive, said “shame” on those who had abandoned polices when they were no longer “fashionable”.