Business Travel Emissions Climb at Big Banks Amid Net-Zero Pact Exodus

Business travel emissions have risen at the major U.S. banks that recently quit global net-zero banking alliances – though many are still down from pre-Covid levels.

Over 140 global banks in the United Nations backed net-zero banking alliance (NZBA) group commit to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 from their business and investments. 

Last December, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, and Bank of America exited the NZBA. Then over the past two weeks, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan also quit. 

Most of the banks that are part of the exodus said they are still committed to helping in the fight against climate change and reaching net-zero.

Skift looked into the business travel emissions at each bank and the data reveal a mixed picture. Business travel emissions at some of the banks have not yet reached even half of what it was before the pandemic, despite economic growth since then. But emissions were again growing from 2022 to 2023, according to the most recent data available in the banks' annual repo