The Transition to Net Zero: Banks Can Do Better

The report finds that while many global banks have committed to net-zero by 2050, their disclosures lack standardisation and transparency. Key issues include inconsistent sectoral coverage, the omission of facilitated emissions, and a failure to align sectoral targets with 1.5°C benchmarks. The report highlights that a significant portion of bank balance sheets remains uncovered by net-zero targets and that current levels of sustainable finance are insufficient to meet the 10-to-1 clean energy to fossil fuel investment ratio recommended by the IEA.

• Bank net-zero disclosures lack comparability due to inconsistent sectoral coverage, varying nomenclature for business activities, and the dispersal of information across multiple report types. For example, while some banks report 'oil and gas', others use 'energy and power', and critical sectors like residential real estate and automotive lending are not consistently reported across the sample.
• There is a significant gap in the scope of bank net-zero disclosures, with most banks failing to report facilitated emissions and excluding large portions of their balance sheets. In the case of BNP Paribas, it is estimated that approximately 70% of total exposures are not covered by a net-zero target, as targets typically focus on corporate exposure and exclude the trading book and non-corporate exposures.
• Bank sectoral targets generally do not align with 1.5°C pathways. Only 3% of sectoral pathways are aligned with the 1.5°C benchmark according to TPI, and WRI notes that average emissions targets for the auto sector are nearly triple the level required by 2030.
• Major US banks, including Citi, JPMorgan Chase, and Bank of America, continue to provide significant financing to fossil fuel expansion companies, which contradicts the IEA's stance that no additional investment in new fossil fuel supply should occur to limit warming to 1.5°C.
• The volume of committed sustainable finance is insufficient relative to the scale of the transition. The median ratio of green finance to fossil fuel finance for the WRI sample was 1.3-to-1 (2018–2022), far below the 10-to-1 ratio estimated by the IEA as necessary by 2030.
• While some banks have set high-value sustainable finance goals—such as Barclays and Citigroup both targeting USD 1 trillion by 2030—these claims often lack detailed business strategies or forward-looking information on how these targets will be achieved.

APA

Martini, M., & Creed, A. (2025). The Transition to Net Zero: Banks Can Do Better. Climate Bonds Initiative. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/The-Transition-to-Net-Zero-Banks-Can-Do-Better_February-2025.pdf

Chicago

Martini, Mireille, and Anna Creed. The Transition to Net Zero: Banks Can Do Better. Climate Bonds Initiative, 2025. https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/The-Transition-to-Net-Zero-Banks-Can-Do-Better_February-2025.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Martini |first1=Mireille |last2=Creed |first2=Anna |title=The Transition to Net Zero: Banks Can Do Better |publisher=Climate Bonds Initiative |date=January 2025 |url=https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/The-Transition-to-Net-Zero-Banks-Can-Do-Better_February-2025.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{martini2025transition, author = {Martini, Mireille and Creed, Anna}, title = {{The Transition to Net Zero: Banks Can Do Better}}, institution = {Climate Bonds Initiative}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://www.climatebonds.net/files/documents/publications/The-Transition-to-Net-Zero-Banks-Can-Do-Better_February-2025.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }