Big Banks Flee Group Formed to Help Reduce Emissions by Businesses

U.S. megabanks want to leave behind some green finance pledges in 2024.

- GINA HEEB

Morgan Stanley, Citigroup and Bank of America this past week withdrew from an ambitious pandemic-era climate coalition designed to help drive a shift to reduce carbon emissions by businesses. That followed withdrawals during the past month by Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs from the United Nations-backed coalition, known as the Net-Zero Banking Alliance.

JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the nation by assets and the only major U.S. bank left in the coalition, is also considering withdrawing from it, a person familiar with the matter said. A JPMorgan spokeswoman said "the bank regularly evaluates memberships" to ensure they further its "client and business interests." Members of the coalition, launched in 2021, vowed to align "lending, investment and capital markets activities with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050."