The Net-Zero Banking Alliance is dead

It’s official: the Net-Zero Banking Alliance is dead. Cause of death: profit and greed.

Set up in 2021 by Mark Carney, now Canada’s Prime Minister, the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) was based on the premise that more information, disclosure, and voluntary action would be enough to address the destructive fossil fuel financing from the world’s largest banks.

Unfortunately, this was never the case. While I hate to say “I told you so…” I told you so.

Voluntary alliances were never going to be robust enough or offer the necessary accountability to address the climate crisis. Voluntary alliances leave far too many loopholes for more delay, and a hole lot of greenwashing cover. Let’s be clear: it’s not in the DNA of the world’s biggest banks to voluntarily lead. They must be FORCED to do so.

As we head to COP30 in November, it is abundantly clear that only legislation, regulation, and, if necessary, litigation will get the biggest financial institutions in the world to come on side with the rest of humanity.

Greed and profit — even at the expense of people and planet — is too powerful for these bankers to resist. Thus, we need our elected officials to mandate real climate action. We need customers and investors to pull out of financial institutions refusing to change,  lacking any type of courage, and holding our climate ambitions back.

As our world burns and reels from one climate disaster to the next, we need leadership like we have not seen before.

It was a mistake to ever believe bankers would lead us, and we unfortunately lost four precious years trying to make this alliance robust when it never could be. We do not have time for anymore for half measures, stalling tactics, or a “slow steady” transition. There’s nothing slow and steady about climate chaos.

Shame on the cowardly CEOs of these banks including RBC, Citi, and HSBC. Shame on the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) and United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) who capitulated continuously to pressure to ratchet down ambition and waste civil society’s time. And shame on elected officials for not stepping in when it was clear that voluntary initiatives were not delivering.

1. Regulate
2. Legislate
3. Litigate

These are the actions we need right now.