Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero

The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) was launched in April 2021 by UN Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance Mark Carney, together with the COP26 Presidency and the UNFCCC Race to Zero campaign. It serves as an umbrella body coordinating sector-specific net-zero alliances across banking, asset management, asset ownership, insurance, financial service providers, and investment consultancy.

GFANZ was formally unveiled at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in November 2021, where it announced that member institutions collectively represented over $130 trillion in assets under management — a figure widely cited but also widely contested by analysts who note the headline number does not equate to capital actively deployed toward decarbonisation.

The alliance is structured as a coordinating body for sub-alliances including:

• The Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), convened by UNEP FI
• The Net Zero Asset Managers initiative (NZAM)
• The Net-Zero Asset Owner Alliance (NZAOA)
• The Net-Zero Insurance Alliance (NZIA)

Members commit to setting interim 2030 targets, using science-based scenarios, and reporting progress annually. GFANZ itself publishes guidance on transition planning, portfolio alignment methodologies, and the financing of high-emitting sectors.

The alliance has faced significant turbulence. In 2022, several large US banks threatened to exit over concerns that Race to Zero criteria could expose them to antitrust litigation; GFANZ subsequently loosened its formal link to Race to Zero requirements. In 2023, the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance lost roughly half its members — including Munich Re, Zurich, Hannover Re, and AXA — citing legal risks from US state attorneys general. In early 2025, major US banks including JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs withdrew from the NZBA. GFANZ responded by restructuring its mandate to focus on mobilising transition finance rather than enforcing membership commitments.