The Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), the global banking alliance to address climate change, has called it a day and closed after a torrid time, which saw big-hitting banks exit the alliance in droves.
Earlier in the year the NZBA backtracked on a key net-zero commitment, abandoning its requirement for banks to align their lending portfolios with a 1.5°C commitment – part of the Paris Agreement.
A decision in itself that made the alliance almost irrelevant.
That decision contributed to Dutch bank Triodos, HSBC and Barclays becoming the latest banks to walk away from the alliance, after US banks JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley departed the group last year.
The alliance will now become nothing more than a framework.
Jeanne Martin, co-director of corporate engagement at responsible investor campaigning group Share Action, expressed disappointment at the news.
“It’s bitterly disappointing to see the biggest banks in the world vote to step away from accountability around their commitments to prevent the worst effects of global heating,” she said.
“Senior bankers need to be far more courageous in this decisive moment for all our futures and must use their influence to push up standards for accountability on climate if we are to stand any chance of making the clean energy transition happen,” Martin added.
The NZBA was launched in 2021by the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative at the US Leaders Summit on Climate, with 43 founding member banks.
The then UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, said at the time: “Uniting the world’s banks and financial institutions behind the global transition to net zero is crucial to unlocking the finance we need to get there.”
At its peak the NZBA had nearly 150 members representing over $75trn (£55trn) in banking assets, so its fall has been rapid.
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