Green banking alliance Carney helped create pauses activities, holds vote on its future
An international green banking alliance that Prime Minister Mark Carney helped establish is now suspending its activities and holding a vote to determine its future.
The Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) is the industry-led banking element of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) that was created when Carney was the UN special envoy on climate action and finance.
The NZBA is a global alliance of banks that has worked to help financial institutions make green investments that will help the transition to a net-zero society and mitigate the impacts of climate change.
While it started with just 43 member banks in 2021, it rose to have as many as 120 before the re-election of President Donald Trump saw the U.S. abandon many of its climate initiatives.
Canada's five largest banks all dropped out of the alliance in January.
In a statement the NZBA said that it will hold a vote of its remaining members on a proposed transition from a membership-based alliance to "a new framework initiative." The result of the vote will not be shared publicly until the end of September.
In the last year, many American and European banks have also left the alliance saying they now have a firm grasp on what they need to do in the green investment space and no longer need the alliance's help.
Canadian banks did not cite the Trump administration when announcing their decision to leave.
When it left the group, CIBC said the alliance was formed when the global industry was scaling up climate efforts but that the space has evolved enough for it to go it alone.
"Having made significant progress alongside our clients in these areas, we are now well positioned to further this work outside of the formal structure of the NZBA," said CIBC spokesperson Tom Wallis at the time.
From membership to frameworkIn announcing the vote the NZBA said switching to a framework structure would be the "most appropriate model" to support global banks as they "accelerate the real economy transition in line with the Paris Agreement."
The NZBA did not provide any other details on what that framework would look like. A spokesperson for the alliance said those details are still being worked out.
"The NZBA steering group will be using the coming weeks to further build out the details of what the proposed transition to a framework would look like in practice," the NZBA's Georgia Shortman told CBC News.
"Details of this will be shared in due course when appropriate to do so."
Described by the World Bank as "a longtime and well-known advocate for sustainability, specifically with regard to the management and reduction of climate risks," Carney could now see his climate initiatives restructured beyond his control.
CBC News reached out to the Prime Minister's Office for reaction to the NZBA's decision but has yet to receive a response.
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