Following Six US Banks, First British Bank Leaves ‘net zero alliance’
HSBC Bank has become the first British bank to leave the totally useless ‘Net Zero Banking Alliance‘
The Net-Zero Banking Alliance was set up in 2021 to ‘encourage’ financial institutions to ‘limit the environmental footprint of their operations’ and push toward achieving ‘net-zero’ emissions by 2050.
The UN Environment Programme describes it as: ‘…a global member-led initiative supporting banks to lead on climate mitigation in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.’
HSBC decided to leave this organisation on July 11th.
That bastion of accurate reporting; The Guardian, published an opinion piece the same day, which reads:
HSBC has become the first UK bank to leave the global banking industry’s net zero target-setting group, as campaigners warned it was a “troubling” sign over the lender’s 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 international climate coordination efforts.
HSBC’s decision follows a wave of exits by big US banks in the run-up to Donald Trump’s inauguration in January. His return to the White House has spurred a climate backlash as he pushes for higher production of oil and gas.
HSBC was a founding member of the NZBA at its launch in 2021, with the bank’s then chief executive, Noel Quinn, saying it was vital to “establish a robust and transparent framework for monitoring progress” towards net zero carbon-emission targets.
“We want to set that standard for the banking industry. Industry-wide collaboration is essential in achieving that goal,” Quinn said.
Convened by the UN environment programme’s 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.
Six of the largest banks in the US – JP Morgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs – left the NZBA after Trump was elected.
UK lenders including Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest, Standard Chartered and Nationwide were still listed as members as of Friday afternoon.
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.
The climate campaign group ShareAction condemned the move, saying it was “yet another troubling signal around the bank’s commitment to addressing the climate crisis”.
Jeanne Martin, ShareAction’s co-director of corporate engagement, said: “It 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.
“Investors will be watching closely how this backsliding move will translate into its disclosures and policies.”
HSBC said in a statement: “We recognise the role the Net Zero Banking Alliance has played in developing guiding frameworks to help banks establish their initial target-setting approach.
“With 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.
“We remain resolutely focused on supporting our customers to finance their transition objectives and on making progress towards our net zero by 2050 ambition.”
At the bottom of this article, The Guardian proudly announces:
1. Reader funding means we can cover what we like. We’re not beholden to the political whims of a billionaire owner. No one can tell us what not to say or what not to report.
2. Reader funding means we don’t have to chase clicks and traffic. We’re not desperately seeking your attention for its own sake: we pursue the stories that our editorial team deems important, and believe are worthy of your time.
Looking up who funds this alarmist rag, we find it is owned by The Scott Trust, which owns Guardian Media Group (GMG), which in turn owns Guardian News & Media (GNM), the publisher of The Guardian.
Looking up the Scott Trust, we find it ‘…was established to ensure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity, shielding it from commercial or political interference.’
Details of their funding is vague at best, being ‘The Guardian accepts funding from various foundations and organizations for specific journalistic projects.‘
I would vehemently dispute the Guardian is free of political ‘interference’. If it were, it would not be relentlessly pushing the ‘climate emergency’ narrative, particularly its use of the phrase ‘global heating’, instead of global warming.
It also states they ‘…believe that good journalism is important to protecting democracy in an age of misinformation…‘
That is rich considering they are one of the worst sources of misinformation, alongside the BBC!
Australian environmental scientist Jennifer Marohasy has accused the Guardian’s previous editor; Graham Redfearn, of making up alarmist stories from whole cloth, as well as repeated attacks on climate skeptics, and the current editor; Katharine Viner, continues to allow the paper to publish alarmist claptrap.
See the Guardian article here theguardian.com
Header image: The Banker
About the author: Andy Rowlands is a British university graduate in space science and Principia Scientific International researcher, writer and editor who co-edited the 2019 climate science book ‘The Sky Dragon Slayers: Victory Lap‘
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Net zero is farce and should be assigned to the garbage bin of history.
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