US asset management giant firms left voluntarily in May, the climate investor network confirms
According to the Financial Times:
Two of the world’s biggest asset managers are quitting an investor group set up to prod companies over global warming and a third is scaling back its participation, in a major setback to the ambitions of Climate Action 100+.
JPMorgan Asset Management and State Street Global Advisors both confirmed they were leaving Climate Action 100+. BlackRock, the world’s largest money manager, is pulling out as a corporate member and transferring its participation to its smaller international arm.
Climate Action 100+ explicitly states as one if its top goals that member firms should “Take action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the value chain, including engagement with stakeholders such as policymakers and other actors to address the sectoral barriers to transition” (emphasis added).
The original goal of Climate Action 100+ was enhanced reporting of climate impacts and corporate emissions.
However, their efforts have resulted in the Securities and Exchange Commission creating a new rule that would require all of the public companies in the United States to collectively spend additional compliance costs.
Similarly, Vanguard left the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative in December of 2022. The question is how do we move forward towards net zero within the financial markets.
