Citi’s new CEO makes ambitious climate pledge on first day

By Kate Birch
Citi joins other leading US Banks in setting 2050 net zero targets as new CEO, Jane Fraser, makes ambitious climate pledge on her first day in the job...

On her very first day as CEO, Jane Fraser made a public pledge, that Citigroup Inc., the world’s most global bank, would achieve net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050. 

Announced in a blog on the Citi site, Fraser, who is the first female CEO in the firm’s history, stated that she was proud “to make this commitment on my first day as CEO of Citi”. 

Citi joins three other major Wall Street Banks

With this pledge, Citi follows three other major Wall Street Banks, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America, all of which have recently committed to ambitious net zero financing targets by 2050, and to measuring and disclosing progress towards those goals. 

Morgan Stanley was the first US Bank out of the climate ambition blocks back in September 2020, when it made a commitment to reach net-zero financed emissions by 2050, joining many of its clients in this strategic goal. 

The US’s largest bank, JPMorgan Chase, soon followed in November announcing it too would adopt a financing commitment aligned to the goals of the Paris Agreement, thereby achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. 

And earlier this month, Bank of America, echoed the current sustainability spirit of the US finance sector announcing a commitment to also reduce its financed emissions in line with the Paris Agreement’s net-zero goal. 

Citi already invested in low-carbon solutions

Admitting that global financial institutions like Citi have both the opportunity and responsibility to play “a leading role in helping drive the transition to a net zero global economy”, Fraser outlined in a blog both Citi’s achievements to date on the sustainability front, and its bold pledge.

From 2014 to 2019, Citi financed and facilitated US$164 billion in low-carbon solutions and last year committed to completing a further US$250 billion in environmental transactions by 2050, as well as reaching “our goal of purchasing 100% renewable electricity for our facilities”, announced Fraser.

“Our commitments to closing the gender pay gap, to advancing racial equity, and to pioneering the green agenda have demonstrated that this is good for business and not at odds with it. And we will continue to be part of the solution to these challenges and enable others to do so as well." 

Citi outlines agenda to achieving climate goals

Making a bold commitment to net zero greenhouse gas emissions, Fraser announced the following commitments

  1. To publish Citi’s initial Net Zero by 2050 plan
  2. To include within the plan emissions reduction targets for carbon-intensive sectors that also have low-carbon transition opportunities, including interim emissions targets for 2030 for Citi’s Energy and Power portfolios
  3. To report on progress made “as we’ve done in our efforts to advance pay equity, racial equity and our previous sustainability goals”.
  4. To review, after an initial implementation period, the scope of the net zero plan to assess which additional sectors to include and how best to incorporate additional areas of the business in a way that achieves meaningful emissions reductions in the real economy as part of a just transition. 
  5. To target net zero greenhouse gas emissions in Citi’s own operations by 2030.

     
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