What Does Wall Street’s Exodus From Net-Zero Finance Alliances Mean?

Even before Donald Trump took office again, it was a frenzied and disconcerting start to 2025. On top of news that 2024 was the hottest year in recorded history, the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles, and more, a string of announcements made global headlines about the deterioration of prominent financial sector climate alliances.

  • On January 7, JPMorgan Chase became the sixth and final major US bank to leave the Net Zero Banking Alliance. The move followed announcements in the preceding weeks by the other major US banks — Morgan Stanley, Citi, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and Goldman Sachs — that those banks would also leave the initiative. Read our press statement in response.

  • On January 9, BlackRock announced it was leaving the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. The move followed the departure two years earlier by major asset manager Vanguard, and came weeks after a new legal attack from the attorney general of Texas. Read our press statement in response.

  • On January 13, the Net Zero Asset Manager initiative announced it was “suspending activities” in the wake of BlackRock’s departure from the alliance, removing its list of signatories and commitment statement from its website. Read our press statement in response.

More than a dozen financial and climate news outlets included the Sierra Club’s analysis in their coverage — including S&P GlobalAmerican BankerNet Zero InvestorInvestment WeekBusinessGreenESG DiveThe American ProspectHeatmap, and others.

Industry alliances are not the key measure of progress

On its face, the departure of these major financial institutions from global net-zero initiatives is clearly disappointing, and is a sign that these banks and asset managers are capitulating to ongoing attacks from climate denier politicians that want to stop sustainable finance efforts. However, we want to be very clear on where we stand: while voluntary corporate-led climate initiatives can serve an important role, membership in them has never been the ultimate measure of a company’s actual progress. 

The fact of the matter is that all six major US banks have previously made their own net-zero commitments that pre-date or are independent from their membership in the Net Zero Banking Alliance, which have not changed as a result of the banks’ exit from the initiative. We will continue to scrutinize and hold those banks accountable to meeting their own climate pledges.

And while the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative's stated goals were laudable, far too many of its members set insufficient climate targets and have been failing to implement transition plans to meet those targets. We hope this review leads to the bar being raised, not lowered, for the asset management firms that remain in the alliance. 

What’s next for our movement

Under the Trump Administration, the Sierra Club remains committed to ensuring that US financial institutions do not further acquiesce to climate denier politicians, and to holding them accountable to follow through on their climate commitments. If they don’t, it will isolate the US on the global stage, and the enormous costs will fall upon our global economy, financial markets, and vulnerable communities. 

Going forward, we will continue to engage with asset owners — including everyday people investing their savings for the long-term, as well as institutional investors like public pensions that manage millions of workers’ retirement funds — to do more to help protect our economy and investments from the enormous threat of climate change.

Join the growing movement: Sign the petition telling public pensions to stop the flow of money to the world’s dirtiest fossil fuel companies.


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