Ahead of Trump presidency, U.S. banks abandon Mark Carney climate initiative

Right here, right now, is where finance draws the line,” proclaimed Mark Carney, the UN special envoy for climate action, in 2021, on stage at the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow.

More than 160 financial institutions signed onto a kind of climate finance super-group known as the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ). At the time, Carney — who’s now an expected contender for Liberal leader — called it a watershed moment for the energy transition.

But for some of those banks, it appears the moment has passed. 

Parts of the UN-sponsored initiative — originally designed to get banks aligned on and sharing investment practices for net-zero goals — are seeing notable dropouts. One offshoot, the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), has seen every major U.S. bank quit in the span of the last month. The latest, JPMorgan Chase, offered no reason but said it “remain[s] focused on pragmatic solutions to help further low-carbon technologies while advancing energy security…