Barclays follows HSBC out of the Net Zero Banking Alliance

Editorial

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Founded in 2021, the UN-convened NZBA requires members to commit to “transition the operational and attributable greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from their lending and investment portfolios to align with pathways to net-zero by 2050 or sooner”.

At its peak it had around 150 members, including most of the world’s largest banks. However, that number has dwindled in the last few months.

At the beginning of 2025, ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House, a host of US banks, including JPMorgan, Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo, pulled out of the global climate-focused alliance.

The American banks quit amid attacks from Republicans on “woke” capitalism, with the House Judiciary Committee, led by Republican Jim Jordan, claiming that financial environmental alliances have created “a climate cartel”.

Now, UK-headquartered HSBC and Barclays have joined their US counterparts. Barclays says it is committed to its “ambition” to be a net zero bank by 2050.

Says a statement: “Our targets to mobilise $1 trillion of Sustainable and Transition Financing and for financed emissions remain unchanged. We continue to work with our clients on their transition, finance the transition and scale climate tech, while helping to ensure energy security for our customers and clients.”

Earlier this week, the CEO of Standard Chartered, Bill Winters, hit out at banks that have rowed back on their climate commitments.

“People that said a lot of stuff, but [when] it was fashionable to say it, [and] who are saying either nothing or the opposite now: shame on them,” said Winters, according to the Guardian.