GFANZ
| Company type | Alliance |
|---|---|
| Industry | Finance, Environmental sustainability |
| Founded | 2021 |
Area served | International |
Key people | Michael Bloomberg (Co-lead), Mark Carney (Co-lead), Mary Schapiro (Vice Chair) |
| Products | Frameworks and resources for net-zero pledges |
| Website | www |
The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) was established at the COP26 held in Glasgow as an international consortium of prominent financial entities dedicated to speeding up the transition to a decarbonized economy.
The alliance is co-led by Michael Bloomberg, the UN Special Envoy on Climate Ambition and Solutions, alongside Mark Carney, the UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance. Mary Schapiro serves as Vice Chair and heads the Secretariat. GFANZ aligns with the objectives of the Paris Agreement to cap global temperature rise at 1.5 °C and provides financial institutions with frameworks and resources to fulfill their net-zero pledges. Originally, it included over 160 organizations managing assets exceeding $70 trillion, though some members have departed since its inception. Prospective participants must receive accreditation from the UN Race to Zero campaign and commit to science-based targets that encompass all emission categories, set interim goals for 2030, and maintain transparent reporting consistent with UN standards.
Within GFANZ are both established and emerging net-zero finance groups such as the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, the UN-supported Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance, and the Net-Zero Banking Alliance.
Criticism
In October 2022, pension funds including Cbus Super and Bundespensionskasse, together with a consulting firm, withdrew from GFANZ in response to updated membership criteria requiring reductions in fossil fuel investments. This followed widespread critiques targeting GFANZ’s principal members—particularly leading banks and investment firms from the U.S. and Canada—for their insufficient climate initiatives. Former US Vice President Al Gore remarked that despite ambitious commitments, some participants have failed to translate these into actionable strategies.
The UN Race to Zero campaign introduced more rigorous standards in June 2022, such as banning support for new coal projects, with a compliance deadline set for mid-2023 for existing members. Bloomberg reported potential withdrawals by institutions like JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Bank of America due to dissatisfaction with mandatory fossil fuel finance restrictions. GFANZ clarified that such measures would remain voluntary for its members, effectively permitting non-compliance. The Financial Times characterized Race to Zero’s influence as reduced to "one adviser among many."
The NGO Global Witness criticized GFANZ for not mandating financial firms to cease funding activities linked to deforestation, pointing out that current net-zero definitions still allow backing of rainforest destruction. In November 2022, Global Witness revealed that GFANZ members maintained "forest-risk investments" totaling roughly $8.5 billion, with only a slight decrease of around 3% in exposure to corporations connected to deforestation.