\n<\/p>\n
HSBC has become the first UK bank to leave the global banking industry\u2019s net zero target-setting group, as campaigners warned it was a \u201ctroubling\u201d sign over the lender\u2019s commitment to tackling the climate crisis.<\/p>\n
The move risks triggering further departures from the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) by UK banks, in a fresh blow to international climate coordination efforts.<\/p>\n
HSBC\u2019s decision follows a wave of exits by big US banks in the run-up to Donald Trump\u2019s inauguration in January. His return to the White House has spurred a climate backlash as he pushes for higher production of oil and gas.<\/p>\n
HSBC was a founding member of the NZBA at its launch in 2021, with the bank\u2019s then chief executive, Noel Quinn, saying it was vital to \u201cestablish a robust and transparent framework for monitoring progress\u201d towards net zero carbon-emission targets.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to set that standard for the banking industry. Industry-wide collaboration is essential in achieving that goal,\u201d Quinn said.<\/p>\n
Convened by the UN environment programme\u2019s finance initiative but led by banks, the NZBA commits members to aligning their lending, investment and capital markets activities with net zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050 or earlier.<\/p>\n
Six of the largest banks in the US \u2013 JP Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs \u2013 left the NZBA after Trump was elected.<\/p>\n
UK lenders including Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest, Standard Chartered and Nationwide were still listed as members as of Friday afternoon.<\/p>\n
In February HSBC announced it was delaying key parts of its climate goals by 20 years and watering down environmental targets in a new long-term bonus plan for its chief executive, Georges Elhedery, who took over last year.<\/p>\n
The climate campaign group ShareAction condemned the move, saying it was \u201cyet another troubling signal around the bank\u2019s commitment to addressing the climate crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n
Jeanne Martin, ShareAction\u2019s co-director of corporate engagement, said: \u201cIt sends a counterproductive message to governments and companies, despite the multiplying financial risks of global heating and the heatwaves, floods and extreme weather it will bring.<\/p>\n
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Sign up to Business Today<\/span><\/p>\n Get set for the working day \u2013 we’ll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.<\/span><\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n \u201cInvestors will be watching closely how this backsliding move will translate into its disclosures and policies.\u201d<\/p>\n HSBC said in a statement: \u201cWe recognise the role the Net Zero Banking Alliance has played in developing guiding frameworks to help banks establish their initial target-setting approach.<\/p>\n \u201cWith this foundation in place, we have decided to withdraw from the NZBA as we work towards updating and implementing our own net zero transition plan.<\/p>\n \u201cWe remain resolutely focused on supporting our customers to finance their transition objectives and on making progress towards our net zero by 2050 ambition.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" HSBC has become the first UK bank to leave the global banking industry\u2019s net zero target-setting group, as campaigners warned it was a \u201ctroubling\u201d sign over the lender\u2019s commitment to tackling the climate crisis. The move risks triggering further departures from the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) by UK banks, in a fresh blow to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[2051,3189,3601,3603,3036,3602],"class_list":{"0":"post-10580","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-alliance","9":"tag-bank","10":"tag-hsbc","11":"tag-industrys","12":"tag-net","13":"tag-quit"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}