The US Federal Reserve Board has announced that it is withdrawing from the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS). In a statement, the US central bank said that, while it has appreciated the engagement with the NGFS and its members, “the work of the NGFS has increasingly broadened in scope, covering a wider range of issues that are outside of the board’s statutory mandate”. In a separate statement, the NGFS said it regrets but respects the Fed’s decision to leave its “coalition of the willing”. It noted that the Fed was not a member of the NGFS steering committee, nor leading any workstream. “As extreme climate events and natural disasters are among the few visible and painful certainties of our times, our community of central banks and supervisors stands as strong and determined as ever,” said the NGFS. The NGFS was launched in 2017, as part of the inaugural One Planet Summit held in Paris. As of December 2024, 144 central banks and financial regulators are members of the NGFS, spread across 90 countries. The Federal Reserve joined the NGFS as a permanent member in 2020. News of the exit comes as Donald Trump assumes the US Presidency, with looming uncertainty about the extent to which he will – or can – roll back climate policies in the country.
