JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs Lead Exodus That Topples Global Climate Banking Group

An exodus led by JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and other Wall Street giants has toppled the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). The global climate-focused banking group has been forced to shut down immediately after its most powerful members abandoned it in the face of mounting political pressure in the United States.
The alliance, which once boasted nearly 150 members, became a casualty of the political landscape following Donald Trump’s re-election. His “drill, baby, drill” energy policy and the associated “anti-woke” campaign from right-wing politicians made participation in the NZBA a significant political liability for American banks.
The six largest US financial institutions made a calculated decision to quit the alliance late last year. This preemptive move was designed to shield them from attack, but it also ripped the heart out of the international coalition, leaving it without its most crucial participants.
The departure of the American contingent created a vacuum that could not be filled. Confidence in the NZBA’s mission and effectiveness plummeted, leading to a steady stream of withdrawals from members in Europe and Japan. The recent exits of UK heavyweights HSBC and Barclays were the final acts in this slow-motion collapse.
The shutdown has drawn starkly different reactions. Some sustainable finance proponents are dismayed, seeing it as a retreat from responsibility by the world’s most powerful banks. In contrast, activist critics are unsurprised, arguing the alliance was a “greenwashing” tool that was never intended to be effective. They now redouble their calls for governments to step in with robust regulations to end the financing of fossil fuel expansion.