Banks pull plug on climate club

CAMPAIGNERS have condemned the winding-up of the banking sector’s global alliance on climate action, after the exodus of some of its major members over the last year.

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ShareAction, which advocates for responsible investment, said the move undermines international efforts to set targets and coordinate climate action.

Assembled in 2021 by the UN Environment Programme’s finance initiative but led by banks, the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) committed members to align their lending, investment and capital markets activities with cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

But several major banks, including British lenders HSBC and Barclays, left the alliance this summer, following some of America’s biggest banks.

Remaining NZBA members have now voted to stop being a member-based organisation.