The Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) has lost Morgan Stanley, following departures from Bank of America and Citigroup. These three latest organisations are leaving the body only a month after Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo who exited late last year.

NZBA members commit to aligning their financial activities with reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 but have come under pressure from the incoming Republicans for failing to finance oil and gas projects. Five the six US finance giants have now resigned, leaving only JP Morgan in the group.

Although the resignations leave NZBA severely weakened, it does not mean that the individual banks are automatically ditching their commitments to climate, and NZBA retains 142 members including 80 European banks in its remit including UK banks Barclays and HSBC.

And whilst NZBA are under pressure, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) has stated it will restructure and shift its focus to addressing barriers to mobilising capital, leading to Jeanne Martin, head of banking programme at ShareAction, to say: "GFANZ’s decision to walk back on a requirement to align with the Paris Agreement is a dangerous one, which could lead to its members lowering ambition even as climate change impacts like extreme weather are harming communities around the world.”

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