Ginny Cleaveland, Deputy Press Secretary, Fossil-Free Finance, Sierra Club, ginny.cleaveland@sierraclub.org, 415-508-8498
WASHINGTON, DC — The Race to Zero campaign, an initiative of the UN climate convention mobilizing actors outside of national governments, today released an updated set of criteria for its members, calling for the phaseout of all unabated fossil fuels as part of a just transition. The new criteria means that members of the initiative—including the investors, banks and insurers who are part of the Glasgow Financial Alliance on Net Zero (GFANZ)—must restrict the development, financing, and facilitation of new fossil fuel assets, including no new coal projects.
In tandem with the Race to Zero campaign’s updated criteria, the Glasgow Financial Alliance on Net Zero (GFANZ) also today released its Guidance on Credible Net-zero Transition Plans, aimed at guiding the financial sector to facilitate the clean energy transition in order to global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit). The framework is open for public comment until July 27, 2022.
All 6 major U.S. banks—Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs—are members of GFANZ. Earlier this year, the banks faced similar demands via shareholder proposals from investors calling for the banks to back up their net-zero commitments with credible plans to achieve their long-term targets. As some of the world’s biggest financiers of fossil fuels, the proposals echoed calls from the International Energy Agency, that in order for the world to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050, “there is no need for investment in new fossil fuel supply” effective immediately.
In response to the announcements, Adele Shraiman, Campaign Representative with the Sierra Club’s Fossil Free Finance Campaign, released the following statement:
“The Race to Zero campaign’s new criteria are a major step forward, and makes clear that in order for financial institutions' net-zero commitments to be credible, they must explicitly commit to phase out financing for new fossil fuels. As the head of the Glasgow Financial Alliance on Net Zero, it is up to Mark Carney to match these criteria by setting clear expectations for the members of GFANZ—which include the world’s largest financiers of fossil fuels—to stop paying lip-service to climate action and adopt the necessary policies to help rein in catastrophic climate change.”
BACKGROUND
The previous Race to Zero criteria required its members to commit to a “fair share” of the 50% cut in global CO2 emissions that the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said is needed by 2030 to keep global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius. The strengthened criteria provide important details about the implementation of net-zero, and most importantly, the need for a phase down of fossil fuels, the public disclosure of transition plans, and the inclusion of financed/portfolio emissions in transition plans for financial institutions, among others.
According to Race to Zero, all existing members and partner organizations will be required to meet the criteria by June 15, 2023, at the latest. In the meantime, the campaign has stated it will shift its focus to the implementation and accountability of net-zero commitments for the organizations that have made them.
###
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.