[TOKYO] Nomura Holdings is leaving the banking industry’s largest climate alliance, joining Japanese peer Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group as an exodus started by Wall Street heavyweights goes global.
Nomura is withdrawing from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) as “we continue to tailor our approach to decarbonisation to the evolving rules and economic backdrop in different regions and countries in which we operate”, a company spokesperson said on Wednesday (Mar 12). That leaves Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group as the two remaining Japanese megabanks in the alliance, which has roughly 130 signatories globally.
Since the Nov 5 election propelled Donald Trump into the White House for a second term, the US has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, walked back Biden-era climate policies and expressed strong support for the fossil-fuel industry. The reversal prompted Wall Street’s biggest banks to quit NZBA in rapid succession, with Canada’s largest banks quickly following.
NZBA’s remaining banks will vote on a revised strategy over the next few weeks, which includes removing a key requirement for lenders to align their portfolios with a goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
A spokesperson for NZBA said the alliance’s focus remains unchanged, namely supporting members’ efforts to finance the transition to a net-zero emissions economy. The strategic review that NZBA is currently working on will ensure the alliance continues to evolve and adjust to changing conditions and to members’ developing needs, the spokesperson added.
Nomura said it will stick to its target set four years ago, to deploy US$125 billion of sustainable financing to March 2026. BLOOMBERG
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