Barclays has become the second UK bank to withdraw from a UN-backed net zero target-setting group, claiming that a wave of defections by international lenders meant it was no longer fit for purpose.
It marks a fresh blow for the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), after HSBC left in early July. It came months after a wave of exits by US banks, which departed in the run-up to Donald Trump’s inauguration in January.
Lenders and other finance firms have come under fresh pressure over their green commitments as a result of Trump’s return to the White House, which caused a climate backlash as he pushed for higher production of oil and gas.
The UN environment programme’s finance initiative, which is led by banks, required members to ensure their lending, investment and capital markets activities would lead them to hitting net zero emissions targets by 2050 or earlier.
However, Barclays said it was no longer effective, given it no longer counted some of the world’s biggest lenders as members. The US lenders who cancelled their membership at the start of the year include JP Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs.
Barclays said in a statement on Friday afternoon: “After consideration, we have decided to withdraw from the Net Zero Banking Alliance. With the departure of most of the global banks, the organisation no longer has the membership to support our transition.”
On Thursday, the chief executive of Standard Chartered, Bill Winters, condemned rival banks for dropping their climate commitments amid mounting political pressure, saying: “Shame on them.” He criticised firms that had jumped on the climate bandwagon when it was “fashionable”, but had since rolled back on their green ambitions or gone quiet on the subject.
“We are committed to our ambition to be a net zero bank by 2050,” Barclays said, adding that its plans to issue $1tn (£750bn) in loans to fund sustainable projects and help firms transition to more climate-friendly operations “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,” the bank added.
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“This is an important commercial opportunity for Barclays; in 2024, we generated approximately half a billion pounds in revenues from sustainable and transition-related activity.”