Morgan Stanley joins Goldman Sachs, Citi in exodus from UN-backed climate alliance
Morgan Stanley said on Thursday it had decided to leave a UN-backed climate alliance — joining rivals Goldman Sachs and Citi in ditching the group amid conservative backlash toward environmental and diversity initiatives.The Wall Street investment bank gave no reason for its decision to exit the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, a pledge to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.Citigroup and Bank of America said they were leaving the group earlier this week, and Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo made the same announcement in early December.The NZBA declined to comment.In a statement, Morgan Stanley told The Post it is still committed to achieving net-zero financed emissions and will continue to “report on our progress as we work towards our 2030 interim financed emissions targets.”A US-based environmental advocacy group urged New York state on Thursday to regulate the financial sector and ensure its policies align with climate goals.“These exits reveal the inadequacy of voluntary commitments and underscore the urgent need for state-level leadership and regulation,” Vanessa Fajans-Turner, executive director of Environmental Advocates NY, said in a statement.In November, Texas led a lawsuit of 11 Republican states against BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street.
The states accused the money managers of “conspiring to artificially constrict” the coal market with anticompetitive practices, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a press release.The states alleged the firms built up huge stakes in coal producers and then supported environmental initiatives that lessened coal production to send prices skyward.Republican-led campaigns against environmental, social and governance (ESG) goals, which include diversity and inclusion policies, gained steam last year. Conservative activist Robby Starbuck, for example, spearheaded a series of successful boycotts on X to pressure US companies to dissolve their diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices. Most ...