Senator Marshalls Slams United Nations Climate Change Goals That Will Harm U.S. Agriculture

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, M.D. released the following statement on the United Nations Net-Zero Banking Alliance’s (NZBA) decision to dramatically expand their Green New Deal climate commitments. This decision leaves U.S. Agriculture in the crosshairs and will have devastating impacts on our Ag industry. The announcement from the UN NZBA comes after Senator Marshall and colleagues Senator Rick Scott, Senator Mike Braun, and Senator Pete Rickettssent a letter to top U.S. banks with serious concerns about the NZBA’s proposed expansion to their ‘Guidelines for Climate Target Setting for Banks’ and what it would mean for our nation’s food security.

“I am sick and tired of agriculture being collateral damage to these radical elitists who have never spent a second to understand what our producers do day in and day out to care for our lands and environment,” said Senator Marshall. “It is infuriating that we have U.S. Banks making climate commitments that will have devastating impacts on agriculture here in the U.S. without ever considering or understanding the impacts of their decisions on our farmers and ranchers who feed the world. These ‘net zero’ commitments are already causing chaos in the European market and spurring protests from farmers all across Europe. I strongly encourage banks doing business in the U.S. to take a step back and let the marketplace determine business decisions, not out-of-touch UN climate activists.” 

Background:

• Today, UN-convened Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) announced that they voted to adopt a new version of the Guidelines for Climate Target Setting for Banks.
• This guidance includes a requirement that “[w]ithin 36 months of signing the Commitment, sector-level targets shall be set for all, or a substantial majority of, the carbon-intensive sectors. These sectors include agriculture; aluminum; cement; coal; commercial and residential real estate; iron and steel; oil and gas; power generation; and transport. Banks should select all significant sub-sectors or parts of the value chain and shall provide a rationale for their approach.”
• This means any Bank in the NZBA will have to set emission reductions targets for their customers in agriculture.
• Senator Marshall has been sounding the alarm against embracing these climate commitments and sent a letter on March 6 to several U.S. Banks expressing concern and specifically asking how they planned to vote on these new Guidelines.