Director Bill Pulte of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) declared that on September 19, the FHFA would leave the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS).
In order to advance green finance and offer a framework for central banks to assist in addressing climate change in line with the objectives outlined in the Paris Agreement, 114 central banks and financial regulators joined together to form the NGFS in 2017.
On January 20, 2026, the United States declared its intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, which will go into effect a year later. In November 2020, at the end of President Donald Trump’s first term, the nation withdrew from the pact for the second time, only to re-join it in February 2021 under then-President Joe Biden.
Pulte announced the decision on X (previously Twitter), joining a number of other agencies in discontinuing their involvement with NGFS.
What This Means for America
The Federal Reserve was the first to leave on January 17, claiming the network had expanded to cover more topics than the Fed’s statutory mandate allowed. The Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), and the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) of the U.S. Treasury Department all adopted similar policies within a month, claiming same justifications.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the agency’s withdrawal at the time as part of its execution of Trump’s executive orders, “Unleashing American Energy” and “Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements.”
“NGFS’s initiatives are inconsistent with this administration’s priorities to grow the U.S. economy and American jobs, and NGFS’s role diverges from the traditional technical and coordinating roles of other international fora,” Bessent said in a press release. “Important parts of NGFS’s scope, including on monetary policy frameworks, go beyond FIO’s core duties. FIO will continue to engage with state insurance regulators and other stakeholders to promote U.S. interests in international insurance engagements.”
The Federal Reserve was the first to leave on January 17, claiming the network had expanded to cover more topics than the Fed’s statutory mandate allowed. The Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), and the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) of the U.S. Treasury Department all adopted similar policies within a month, claiming same justifications.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described the agency’s withdrawal at the time as part of its execution of Trump’s executive orders, “Unleashing American Energy” and “Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements.”
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