(Reuters) - Citigroup Inc said it will consolidate three of its investment banking groups into one in a push for environmental sustainability, an area that has become critical for investors.

The new unit, to be called the Natural Resources and Clean Energy Transition Group, will be headed by Steve Trauber and Sandip Sen, according to a memo seen by Reuters on Monday.

The unit will include the chemicals, energy and power franchises, showed the memo from Tyler Dickson and Manuel Falcó, co-heads at Citi's Banking, Capital Markets and Advisory business.

Trauber will oversee the unit's investment banking front, while Sen will be in charge of corporate banking, the memo said.

In a blog post on March 1, Citigroup's Chief Executive Officer Jane Fraser announced the bank's commitment to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. (http://citi.us/3foQuVx)

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a surge in interest in companies that perform well on environmental, social and governance (ESG) targets.

Other top-tier institutional firms such as Mastercard Inc and HSBC have also committed to net zero emissions by 2050.

Last year, Citi launched a new business unit within its corporate and investment bank dedicated to ESG goals.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant and Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)