Wall Street banks have quit the global industry’s net zero target-setting group in droves ahead of president-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
JPMorgan Chase & Co became the latest to exit the UN-sponsored net zero banking alliance (NZBA) earlier this week.
Its departure followed similar moves by Citigroup Inc, Bank of America Corp, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo & Co and Goldman Sachs Group Inc since the start of December.
Trump, who will be inaugurated for his second term on January 20, has vowed to scale back environmental rules and deregulate the likes of the energy sector.
According to analysts, moves by bank’s away from the alliance form part of efforts to swerve targeting around climate action by Trump and right-wing politicians upon his reappointment.
“The sudden exodus of these big US banks out of the NZBA is a lily-livered effort to avoid criticism from Trump and his climate denialist cronies,” Paddy McCully, of campaign group Reclaim Finance, commented.
Under the NZBA, banks commit to align lending and investment with efforts to meet net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Spokespeople from Citi and JPMorgan, cited by the Guardian, highlighted commitments to “net zero” and furthering “low-carbon technologies” respectively, while Goldman Sachs said it was focused on increasingly stringent standards.
“When climate change was at the front of the political agenda, the banks were keen to boast of their commitments to act on climate,” McCully added.
“Now that the political pendulum has swung in the other direction, suddenly acting on climate does not seem so important for the Wall Street lenders.”