Macquarie exits the global climate coalition and is joining major banks

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Macquarie exits the global climate coalition and is joining major banks
February 11 (Reuters) - Australia's Macquarie Group (MQG.AX) opens a new tab, announced on Tuesday that it would withdraw from a global banking industry climate coalition, joining a slew of North American banks that have left the alliance since Donald Trump took office in early November.

The Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) is a UN-sponsored effort founded by former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney and launched in 2021 to encourage financial institutions to mitigate the consequences of climate change and strive for net-zero emissions.

However, Trump's presidential victory and subsequent actions to withdraw from the Paris Agreement and the UN Green Climate Fund have resulted in an exodus from the NZBA, which now has 134 members in 44 countries, according to its website.
Trump has criticized governments' efforts to prescribe climate-change policy.

Goldman Sachs (GS.N) opened a new tab and was the first to go on December 6. It was followed by five US peers: Wells Fargo (WFC.N), Citigroup (C.N), Bank of America (BAC.N), Morgan Stanley (MS.N), and JPMorgan (JPM.N), all of which opened new tabs.

In Canada, TD Bank (TD.TO) opens a new tab, the Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) opens a new tab, the National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) opens a new tab, and the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) opens a new tab (CIBC) withdrew from the alliance last month, just before Trump's inauguration.
Macquarie did not explain why it was leaving the NZBA but promised to provide an update on its climate initiatives in its annual report in May 2025.

"After years of touting itself as a green bank, Macquarie is showing its true colours by following the big U.S. banks into undermining global climate goals," said Kyle Robertson, a senior banking analyst at Market Forces.

However, the alliance continues to include Australia's central four banks, Westpac (WBC.AX), ANZ Group Holdings (ANZ.AX), Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AX), and National Australia Bank (NAB.AX), opens a new tab.