TORONTO, Jan 17 (Reuters) - Four of Canada's biggest

lenders said on Friday they were withdrawing from a global

banking sector climate coalition, joining six major U.S. banks.

The departures from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance began with

Goldman Sachs' ( GS ) announcement on Dec. 6 and come ahead of

Donald Trump's return to the White House next week. Trump has

been critical of efforts by governments to prescribe

climate-change policies.

The four Canadian banks are TD Bank, Bank of

Montreal ( BERZ ), National Bank of Canada ( NTIOF ) and Canadian

Imperial Bank of Commerce ( CM ) .

The other big U.S. banks that have withdrawn are Wells Fargo ( WFC )

, Citi, Bank of America ( BAC ), Morgan Stanley ( MS )

and JPMorgan ( JPM ).

The Net-Zero Banking Alliance, a UN-sponsored initiative set

up by former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, was launched

in 2021 to encourage financial institutions to limit the effects

of climate change and push toward achieving net-zero emissions.

The Canadian banks said in separate statements that they

were equipped to work outside the alliance and develop their

climate strategies.

"The NZBA was formed at a time when the global industry was

scaling up efforts to take action on climate, and served a

valuable role in galvanizing these efforts and establishing

momentum," CIBC said in a statement.

"As this space has evolved and matured, and having made

significant progress alongside our clients in these areas, we

are now well-positioned to further this work outside of the

formal structure of the NZBA," it said.

Canadian banks have faced mounting pressure to address

climate-related risks arising from their funding activities in

the past few years. The country's banking regulator has also

introduced guidelines for financial institutions to manage their

climate-related risks.

Separately, the U.S. Federal Reserve announced it had

withdrawn from a global body of central banks and regulators

devoted to exploring ways to police climate risk in the

financial system.