Six of the largest banks in the United States have bowed out of the global Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), with the inauguration of Donald Trump predicted to bring political backlash concerning climate action, reported The Guardian.

The latest to withdraw is JP Morgan, which followed Citigroup and Bank of America. Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo have also left the United Nations-sponsored NZBA since the beginning of December.

“JPMC is ending our membership in the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA). We will continue to work independently to advance the interests of our Firm, our shareholders and our clients and remain focused on pragmatic solutions to help further low-carbon technologies while advancing energy security. We will also continue to support the banking and investment needs of our clients who are engaged in energy transition and in decarbonizing different sectors of the economy,” a spokesperson for JPMorganChase said in a statement provided to ESG Today.

The defections from NZBA come on the heels of exits from similar groups in the finance industry. In 2023, GOP litigation threats led to a mass exodus from an insurers’ net zero alliance, Bloomberg reported. And an asset managers climate organization disbanded from Vanguard Group — the second-largest money manager in the world — in 2022.

The breakup of worldwide climate associations has forced the regrouping of those in charge. The Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) serves as a finance industry net zero umbrella organization, and it ended last year with a message that it was going to distance itself from the other alliances. According to the latest update from GFANZ, it plans to make its advice available to financial firms that have made no commitment to a net zero pact, as well as those that have.

JPMorgan said on Tuesday that it plans to “continue engaging with GFANZ, among others, to advance pragmatic solutions and market conditions that can help further a low-carbon and energy-secure future,” as reported by Bloomberg.

According to analysts, the banking institutions’ withdrawals are a response to “anti-woke” sentiment from U.S. rightwing politicians, which are predicted to increase when Trump becomes president, The Guardian reported.

Trump’s campaign promises to deregulate energy, dismantle environmental rules and “drill, baby, drill” are predicted to become a governing reality in his role as commander-in-chief of the world’s biggest producer of oil and gas.

“The sudden exodus of these big U.S. banks out of the NZBA is a lily-livered effort to avoid criticism from Trump and his climate denialist cronies,” said Paddy McCully, a senior analyst at campaign group Reclaim Finance, as reported by The Guardian. “A few years ago, when climate change was at the front of the political agenda, the banks were keen to boast of their commitments to act on climate. Now that the political pendulum has swung in the other direction, suddenly acting on climate does not seem so important for the Wall Street lenders.”

NZBA — led by banks, but convened by the UN Environment Programme’s finance initiative — commits its members to aligning their investment, lending and capital market activities with the goal of net zero emissions by mid-century or earlier.

A spokesperson for Citigroup — a founding member of NZBA — said the financial institution’s decision to leave would allow it to “focus on addressing barriers to mobilising capital to emerging markets in support of the low-carbon transition. We remain committed to reaching net zero and continue to be transparent about our progress.”

Carbon Trust senior manager Toby Kwan said the NZBA departures could give banks more flexibility concerning which pathway they choose to align with and which sectors they include in their targets, as well as less strict timeframes.

A Republican-led House of Representatives judiciary committee in December accused “a cartel” of financial institutions and climate activists of conspiring to “impose radical ESG-goals” on companies in the U.S.

After the most recent withdrawals, 141 banks remain members of NZBA, including all of the largest banks in Europe.

“By strengthening their commitments, NZBA banks can demonstrate that they have not simply used U.S. obstructionism as an excuse to maintain the NZBA’s weak position,” McCully pointed out, saying those remaining would now have a chance to advance further.

Kwan added that NZBA’s loss of U.S. banks was not a death knell for the organization.

 “While these major financial institutions leaving the alliance raises a question mark on the future of climate action in the financial sector, the remaining NZBA members represent a significant portion of the global banking sector, controlling approximately 40% of global banking assets, or $64tn [£51tn],” Kwan said, as The Guardian reported. “This substantial influence cannot be understated, and NZBA members can drive the transition to a net zero economy.”

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Microplastics shed from plastic products like clothing and packaging are ending up in the fish we eat, according to researchers from Portland State University (PSU).

The findings of the study highlight a need for strategies and technologies to reduce the microfiber pollution that makes its way into the environment, a press release from PSU said.

“Microplastics (MPs) and other anthropogenic particles (APs) are pervasive environmental contaminants found throughout marine and aquatic environments. We quantified APs in the edible tissue of black rockfish, lingcod, Chinook salmon, Pacific herring, Pacific lamprey, and pink shrimp, comparing AP burdens across trophic levels and between vessel-retrieved and retail-purchased individuals,” the researchers wrote in the study. “Anthropogenic particles were found in 180 of 182 individuals… These findings suggest a need for further research into technologies and strategies to reduce microfiber pollution entering the environment.”

Scientists from the Applied Coastal Ecology Lab at PSU built on earlier research that explored the pervasiveness of microplastics in bivalves such as Pacific razor clams and oysters, the press release said. Led by Elise Granek, an environmental science and management professor, the team focused on commonly eaten crustaceans and finfish.

Their goal was to fill in the gaps regarding microplastic contamination in shellfish and finfish in Oregon, while gaining a better understanding of differences across trophic levels — which arrange the position of fish in the food chain — as well as in pathways to consumers.

The researchers quantified particles from materials modified or produced by humans that they discovered in the edible tissues of half a dozen species that are culturally or economically important in Oregon: Chinook salmon, lingcod, black rockfish, Pacific lamprey, Pacific herring and pink shrimp.

The team then compared concentrations of particles across trophic levels, as well as whether where the microplastics were positioned in the food web had an effect on how much and what was contaminating the edible tissue of the fish. They also looked at whether samples obtained directly from research vessels differed from those of seafood vendors and supermarkets.

The researchers found 1,806 suspected plastic particles in 180 out of 182 individual samples. Fibers were most abundant, followed by films and fragments.

The study, “From the ocean to our kitchen table: anthropogenic particles in the edible tissue of U.S. West Coast seafood species,” was published in the journal Frontiers in Toxicology.

Of the species the research team sampled, pink shrimp were found to have the highest particle concentrations in their edible tissues. The lowest concentrations were found in Chinook salmon, followed by lingcod and black rockfish.

“We found that the smaller organisms that we sampled seem to be ingesting more anthropogenic, non-nutritious particles,” Granek said in the press release. “Shrimp and small fish, like herring, are eating smaller food items like zooplankton. Other studies have found high concentrations of plastics in the area in which zooplankton accumulate and these anthropogenic particles may resemble zooplankton and thus be taken up for animals that feed on zooplankton.”

The team expected processing would introduce more contaminants from plastic packaging, but that was not found to be universally true. The researchers also discovered that rinsing shrimp and fish fillets — as many people do before preparing them — could, in some cases, remove additional contamination that might have landed on the surface between catch and consumer.

Overall, the study provided evidence of widespread plastic particles and fibers in the edible tissues of marine and freshwater species in Oregon.

“It’s very concerning that microfibers appear to move from the gut into other tissues such as muscle,” Susanne Brander, an ecotoxicologist with Oregon State University who helped with lab analysis, said in the press release. “This has wide implications for other organisms, potentially including humans too.”

The researchers said the findings demonstrate the need for more studies to understand how particles end up in muscle tissue, along with policies to regulate anthropogenic particles.

“This project established critical baseline data for West Coast fisheries stakeholders and highlighted how much we still do not know about these pervasive microplastic pollutants,” said Summer Traylor, who led the project with help from Marilyn Duncan, an environmental science student who graduated from PSU in 2024. Traylor graduated with a master’s in environmental management in 2022 and is now a NOAA Corps Officer.

Rather than recommending people avoid seafood, the authors of the study are instead focusing on solutions.

“If we are disposing of and utilizing products that release microplastics, those microplastics make their way into the environment, and are taken up by things we eat,” Granek said. “What we put out into the environment ends up back on our plates.”

“We’re continuing to do work to understand the effects of anthropogenic particles on animals, but we’re also moving into experimental work to test what are effective solutions to reduce microplastics entering marine ecosystems,” Granek added.

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Following years of campaigning by environmental activists, Thailand has banned foreign imports of plastic waste due to concerns about toxic pollution.

Experts warn that the failure to reach an agreement on a global treaty to eliminate plastic waste will have adverse impacts on human health, reported The Guardian.

“The ban on imports will help stimulate plastic recycling in Thailand, ensuring more efficient resource usage and reducing the amount of unused plastic waste,” said Arada Fuangthong, director-general of Thailand’s Department of Foreign Trade, as Sustainable Plastics reported. “This will also help reduce pollution that could impact the environment and public health.”

Fuangthong added that Thailand’s plastic waste problem has increased “significantly,” and that the country has struggled with electronic waste being smuggled in mixed with plastic waste.

Issued by the Thai Department of Foreign Trade on January 1, the new regulation provided a grace period from December 17 to 31 to allow for the completion of pending imports.

The guidelines require the promotion of domestic plastic waste recycling by responsible agencies under the Bio, Circular, Green (BCG) economy model framework.

Thailand became a main destination for plastic waste exports from the United States, Japan, Europe and the United Kingdom after a ban was imposed by China — the largest household waste market in the world — in 2018, reported The Guardian.

Japan is among the biggest waste plastic exporters to Thailand, sending roughly 50 million kilograms of discarded plastics in 2023.

According to Thai customs officials, over 1.21 million tons of plastic scraps were received by the country from 2018 to 2021.

“The ban on all plastic scrap imports should be seen as a triumph for civil society in preventing hazardous waste from entering Thailand,” said Penchom Sae-Tang, director of NGO Ecological Alert and Recovery, as the Bangkok Post reported. “However, our work is far from over. Vigilant monitoring and robust cooperation with authorities will be critical to ensuring the law is enforced for the benefit of all.”

Plastic waste imports have been frequently burned by factories rather than being recycled, leading to negative impacts for the environment and human health, reported The Guardian.

“While this is a great step forward for Thailand, there is more work to be done. After the law comes into effect, the Thai government must work to ensure its enforcement and implementation. This means industrial, environmental and customs agencies must cooperate to prevent any illicit imports of plastic waste… the current law does not address the transit of plastic waste, meaning Thailand could be used as a transit state to send waste to our… neighbours. The Thai government must guard against this,” said Punyathorn Jeungsmarn, a plastics campaign researcher with the Environmental Justice Foundation, as The Guardian reported.

European exports of plastic waste to non-OECD nations have increased over the past several years, reported Sustainable Plastics.

Rules regulating the global export of plastic scrap exist, but compliance is hard to assess.

Thailand’s new ban comes as attempts to rescue the global plastics treaty continue. Countries failed last year to agree on a final draft following talks in Busan, South Korea.

A draft text was supported by more than 100 countries, but oil-producing nations like Saudi Arabia, Russia and Iran resisted cuts to plastics production.

A date has not yet been set for further discussions on a global treaty to eliminate plastic waste.

“Plastic pollution is now recognised as not only an environmental crisis but also a critical human health crisis. The need for decisive international action to tackle plastic pollution has never been more urgent,” said professor Steve Fletcher, director of University of Portsmouth’s Revolution Plastics Institute, as The Guardian reported.

Fletcher pointed out that burning plastic as a waste management method posed severe health risks that were compounded by the plastic waste trade.

“With 16% of global municipal waste burned openly, rising to 40-65% in low-and middle-income countries, vulnerable populations bear the brunt of this crisis. The toxic fumes from burning plastic are a silent but deadly contributor to global health burdens. Urgent action is needed,” said Dr. Cressida Bowyer, deputy director of Revolution Plastics Institute, as reported by The Guardian.

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In a recent lawsuit, Murray County, Georgia, alleged that corporations 3M, Daikin and DuPont have used toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) “forever chemicals” to produce products in Northwest Georgia while hiding associated dangers since the 1960s, causing a public health crisis.

The county is also suing carpet manufacturers, including Shaw and Mohawk Industries, reported The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The lawsuit claims the companies have been aware for decades that the PFAS they produce and use are toxic, but have been concealing that knowledge and dumping contaminated waste in the county’s landfill.

“Thanks to these and other failures by the chemical makers and users, all or substantially all the residents of Northwest Georgia effectively have Scotchgard, Stainmaster, and Teflon coursing through their veins, suppressing their immune systems and triggering debilitating and fatal illnesses,” the county said in its lawsuit.

In its complaint, the Georgia county said defendants made billions from products contaminated with PFAS and should pay for necessary cleanup.

The complaint by Murray County follows another lawsuit filed by Mohawk Industries in Whitfield County against 3M, DuPont, Chemours and Daikin, alleging the chemical companies hid PFAS dangers from users.

One of the biggest carpet manufacturers in the world, Mohawk claims it was duped into using the chemicals without being aware that they could cause harm to humans and the environment, Atlanta News First reported.

Mohawk’s lawsuit claims the corporations “concealed and misrepresented material information regarding the environmental and health risks of PFAS chemicals” when it sold carpet “treatment products” to Mohawk over the course of decades.

The City of Dalton — known as “the carpet and flooring capital of the world” — has filed another lawsuit against Shaw Industries, 3M, Daikin, Chemours and others, alleging that the city’s sewage system was contaminated with PFAS by one of its largest employers. That complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court Northern District of Georgia, located in Rome.

PFAS are a group of thousands of chemicals used to make products like carpet stain- and water-resistant.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has said PFAS have been linked to a heightened risk of decreased fertility, low birth weight and multiple forms of cancer.

Mohawk admitted that its industrial wastewater, which was contaminated with PFAS, made its way into rivers that provide local residents with drinking water.

“Mohawk has already paid over $100 million to settle certain water lawsuits in order to fund the construction of water treatment facilities to remove Defendants’ PFAS from the drinking water of the affected communities,” the lawsuit said, as reported by Atlanta News First.

The case brought by Murray County, which includes claims against Chemours, is the most recent in an increasing legal fight stemming from PFAS use in the state’s carpet manufacturing industry, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

PFAS are referred to as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down easily in the natural environment.

Murray County’s legal team is made up of attorneys, water experts and consumer advocates that include Erin Brockovich — famous for the fight against Pacific Gas & Electric that inspired an Oscar-winning film bearing the environmental advocate’s name.

3M has said it will stop making PFAS by year’s end, and has agreed to pay as much as $12.5 billion to public water providers.

“The PFAS in and around the county’s landfill, which are migrating into the waters of the state of Georgia, must be contained, captured and destroyed,” the county stated in its lawsuit.

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Each leopard can be identified by their own unique roar, the first large-scale study of its kind has found.

Using a combination of camera traps and recordings, the research team was able to identify the vocalizations of individual leopards with 93.1 percent accuracy, a press release from University of Exeter said.

“Discovering that leopards have unique roars is an important but fundamentally quite basic finding that shows how little we know about leopards, and large carnivores in general,” said Jonathan Growcott, lead author of the study and a University of Exeter Ph.D. student, in the press release. “We hope it will allow leopards to become the focus of more acoustically complex science such as population density studies and open the door to more work on how large carnivores use vocalizations as a tool.”

Leopards are listed by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species as “vulnerable” to extinction, mostly due to habitat loss and conflict with humans.

Due to leopards being solitary, nocturnal and occupying large expanses of terrain, scientists have had a difficult time gathering reliable data to help with reversing population declines.

A scant amount of research has been done regarding the “sawing roar” of a leopard — a low-frequency, repeated pattern used mostly for territorial defense and to attract mates that is often able to be heard at distances of more than a kilometer away.

By using bioacoustics to study leopards — a technique more often used to monitor marine species and birds — researchers can track much bigger areas.

This could allow for more complex studies like population estimates, which are a key metric for aiding conservationists and policymakers in their understanding of landscape management and the mitigation of human-wildlife conflicts.

“Conservation requires accurate information about species occupancy, populations and behaviour. However, gathering these data for elusive, solitary species, such as leopards (Panthera pardus), is often challenging. Utilizing novel technologies that augment data collection by exploiting different species’ traits could enable monitoring at larger spatiotemporal scales,” the authors wrote in the study.

The study was conducted across 450 square kilometers in Tanzania’s Nyerere National Park, where the team attached 50 camera pairs to trees alongside trails and roads. They then placed microphones beside each camera to enable them to identify individual leopards from the camera, then extract the sound of their roars from the accompanying audio.

A modeling system was used to analyze the temporal patterns of the big cats’ roars. What the researchers discovered was that not only was individual identification possible, but an overall accuracy of more than 93 percent could be achieved.

The findings, “The secret acoustic world of leopards: A paired camera trap and bioacoustics survey facilitates the individual identification of leopards via their roars,” were published in Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservation.

The study showed that a wider array of species traits can be captured with the use of multiple technologies to record complementary data, rather than using a single form of technology alone.

“Importantly, our success in using a combination of different types of technology could hopefully lead others to think about how to integrate different types of technology into their research, as the rich data this provides could really push science ahead and help us understand ecosystems and landscapes in a much more holistic way,” Growcott said in the press release.

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