It added the group “encourages the banking sector to remain steadfast in implementing their net-zero commitments.” Forbes reports that the vote will likely result in a name change.
The NZBA began as a 43-member group representing the banking sector’s role in the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). Its membership eventually tripled to more than 140 banks, but momentum stalled in recent months as several members withdrew. By the end of 2024, the six largest U.S. banks had quit, followed by five of Canada’s major banks in early 2025, along with several European lenders, CBC News reports.
Observers have linked NZBA’s decline to political headwinds for the renewable energy industry under the Donald Trump administration. But this may be an oversimplification, Todd Cort, co-director of the Yale Center for Business and the Environment, suggested back in January. Other factors include improving economics for fossil fuel development and legal actions against banks for their net-zero commitments.
In the short term, he added, the costs of climate change are being distributed across the economy while banks can still reap the benefits of fossil fuel investments directly. “Bigger impacts are a bit farther down the road, and cash in hand today is worth more than cash tomorrow.”
Climate groups are decidedly unhappy about the NZAB announcement, though it was expected for months. Richard Brooks, climate finance director for Stand.earth, declared the alliance “dead” and criticized the premise that voluntary disclosures and actions would be sufficient to end banks’ financing of fossil fuels.
“We need our elected officials to mandate real climate action,” Brooks wrote in a statement. “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.”
He added that future actions should focus on regulation, legislation, and litigation.
