Wells Fargo has scrapped its commitment to reach net zero emissions for its financed activities by 2050.
Making the move it cited factors beyond its control including weak public policy, slow technology progress and shifting consumer behaviour.
The US banking giant announced it is also dropping its sector-specific 2030 interim financed emissions targets shifting its focus instead to providing capital for clients’ existing energy plans.
“When we set our financed emissions goal and targets we said that achieving them was dependent on many factors outside our control” the bank stated. “Many of the conditions necessary to facilitate our clients’ transitions have not occurred.”
We are adjusting our approach to focus on doing what banks do best – providing financing and expertise to help clients pursue their own objectives. We are discontinuing our sector-specific 2030 interim financed emissions targets and our goal to achieve net zero by 2050 for financed emissions.
Wells Fargo
Despite abandoning its long-term climate commitments Wells Fargo insists it will continue supporting sustainable finance.
The bank has deployed $178 billion in sustainable finance since 2021 including $16 billion in renewable energy and over $15 billion in clean transportation. It has also committed to $500 billion in sustainable finance by 2030 with 36% of that already in motion.
But the shift signals a major retreat from the net zero pledges made by financial institutions in recent years.
Rather than pushing for sector-wide decarbonisation the bank says it will now “meet clients where they are” and finance projects based on individual business strategies.
Wells Fargo vowed it will continue working towards reducing its own operational emissions. By 2030 it aims to cut Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 70% reduce energy use by 50% and transition to 100% renewable electricity.
But for financed emissions—the far bigger impact area—the bank is stepping back leaving the fate of its clients’ climate ambitions to market forces rather than internal pressure.
Wrong call
Ben Cushing, director of the Sierra Club’s Sustainable Finance campaign, slammed the move.
” Wells Fargo’s decision to abandon its net-zero targets is an outrageous abdication of responsibility. Instead of using its significant influence to drive the energy transition and address the climate crisis, the bank is hiding behind the excuse that it can only passively follow its clients’ actions.
“As the world’s fifth-largest financier of fossil fuels since the Paris Agreement, Wells Fargo has actively fueled the climate crisis while now attempting to shift the blame onto everyone else. This retreat is both cowardly and shortsighted.”
