Financing 1.5°C: Contextualizing Wall Street’s Latest Climate Commitments

The briefing examines the initial net-zero announcements from Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo. While these institutions have committed to 2050 targets, the document notes that they are in early stages, lacking specific interim targets, defined pathways, and clear coverage standards for business units like capital markets. It highlights varying organizational responses, ranging from Wells Fargo's centralized Institute for Sustainable Finance to Goldman Sachs' hybrid model, and notes the adoption of the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) by several banks to improve emissions reporting consistency.

• Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo have all announced 2050 net-zero targets for their financing activities, though they are in varying early stages of implementation. Bank of America released "initial steps" on February 11, Citi pledged a plan within a year on March 1, Goldman Sachs updated its 2030 sustainable finance goals on March 4, and Wells Fargo announced its target on March 8.
• The four banks have not yet specified if their commitments cover investment banking and capital markets, partly due to a lack of industry-wide standards for Scope 3 emissions. Specifically, the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) currently lacks standards for capital markets.
• There is a general lack of clearly defined interim targets among global financial institutions, with the exception of insurer Aviva. Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo have not yet defined specific targets or pathways, though they have set timelines for releasing further details.
• The banks are adopting different internal organizational structures to manage their climate commitments: Wells Fargo is using a centralized model by creating an Institute for Sustainable Finance; Citi is using a centralized task force; and Goldman Sachs is employing a hybrid approach.
• Several banks have joined the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) to standardize the assessment and reporting of financed emissions. This includes Bank of America, Citi, and Morgan Stanley (who joined in July 2020), as well as Canadian banks TD, BMO, CIBC, and RBC.

APA

RMI (2021). Financing 1.5°C: Contextualizing Wall Street’s Latest Climate Commitments. https://rmi.org/resources/financing-1-5c-contextualizing-wall-streets-latest-climate-commitments/

Chicago

RMI. Financing 1.5°C: Contextualizing Wall Street’s Latest Climate Commitments. 2021. https://rmi.org/resources/financing-1-5c-contextualizing-wall-streets-latest-climate-commitments/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=RMI |title=Financing 1.5°C: Contextualizing Wall Street’s Latest Climate Commitments |date=10 March 2021 |url=https://rmi.org/resources/financing-1-5c-contextualizing-wall-streets-latest-climate-commitments/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{rmi2021financing, author = {{RMI}}, title = {{Financing 1.5°C: Contextualizing Wall Street’s Latest Climate Commitments}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2021}, month = mar, url = {https://rmi.org/resources/financing-1-5c-contextualizing-wall-streets-latest-climate-commitments/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }