Goldman Sachs confirmed on 6 December 2024 that it had withdrawn from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, the United Nations-backed industry coalition formed to align bank lending and investment portfolios with the temperature targets of the Paris Agreement. The departure makes Goldman the first major US bank to leave the NZBA since the alliance was established in 2021.
The bank pointed to the increasingly elevated sustainability standards and reporting requirements imposed by regulators around the world. Goldman said it had "the capabilities to achieve our goals and to support the sustainability objectives of our clients", and confirmed that its goal of aligning its financing activities with net zero by 2050, and its interim sector targets, remained in place.
EARLIER CLIMATE ACTION 100+ EXIT
Goldman Sachs Asset Management had already withdrawn from Climate Action 100+, the investor engagement initiative focused on pressuring large corporate greenhouse gas emitters to adopt credible decarbonisation plans, in August 2024.
The NZBA, which counts scores of global banks among its members, requires signatories to set intermediate and long-term emissions reduction targets covering their financing portfolios and to report publicly against those targets on a regular basis.
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