Members of the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) have voted to "transition from a member-based alliance", meaning the initiative will "cease operations immediately", it said today.
The NZBA — a voluntary, global alliance of banks — asked members to vote on its future in August. The group's guidance for banks on setting climate targets will remain publicly available, the NZBA said today.
"Individual banks worldwide can continue to use and reference these resources to help develop and deliver on their own net-zero transition plans", the group said.
The organisation in April released guidance for banks, which included increased flexibility around climate targets, allowing its members to set targets aligned with the upper temperature limit sought by the Paris climate agreement. The Paris agreement seeks to curb the global rise in temperature to "well below" 2°C above pre-industrial levels, while pursuing efforts to limit warming to 1.5°C.
NZBA signatories originally committed to a net zero by 2050 goal, as well as interim targets and transparent reporting, in line with UN criteria. Several large US banks exited the NZBA early this year, days ahead of US president Donald Trump's return to the White House. UK banks HSBC and Barclays left the alliance in July and August, respectively.
"The massive reallocation of financial flows toward solutions cannot happen without intervention from policymakers and regulators", director of research and campaign organisation Reclaim Finance Lucie Pinson said.
The UN Cop 30 climate summit, scheduled for November in Brazil, will place more focus on private finance, including commercial banks, to divert the capital needed for the global energy transition. Global cuts to international aid are likely to reduce public climate finance flows.
