For some bankers, net-zero is like a new year’s resolution — a pledge one makes and often breaks before a year has passed.
Several of the largest banks, including JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley, headed into the U.N. COP26 climate talks last year as members of the world’s biggest zero-carbon finance club. Their membership in the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), a group of roughly 500 financial sector entities, publicly committed their banks to reach net-zero carbon emissions by midcentury.
By September they were among a faction ready to quit, according to sources familiar with the matter. JPMorgan, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.