2025 began with a shift in the financial sector: several of the U.S.’s largest banks, including Citigroup, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley, announced their departure from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA).

These exits follow similar moves we already talked about by Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs just weeks earlier.

Established to align banking practices with net-zero emissions by 2050, the NZBA’s vision seemed unassailable.

So why are these companies walking away? And what does this mean for the future of sustainable finance?