It all seemed so unstoppable in April 2021 when a group of the world’s banks, under the guidance of former Bank of England governor turned UN envoy for climate action and finance Mark Carney, announced the creation of the Net Zero Banking Alliance. Founding members, which included Citibank and Bank of America, agreed to reconfigure their lending and investment portfolios ‘to align with pathways to net zero by 2050 or sooner’. In other words they would draw up a plan to stop future lending for nasty stuff like pumping fossil fuels out of the ground.
‘The largest financial players in the world recognise energy transition represents a vast commercial opportunity as well as a planetary imperative,’ declared the then US climate envoy John Kerry. ‘As countries around the world move to decarbonise, the large sums these institutions are dedicating to climate solutions reflect a growing understanding that the transition to a low-carbon global economy will be critical for their business models.’
At its peak, the alliance had 144 members, but no longer will they include Citigroup or Bank of America.
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