Do these groups achieve anything meaningful? Feels like the kind of thing companies sign up to so they can get some PR and say they're being 'responsible'.
Like Exxon was/is an ESG friendly stock, but Tesla isn't. Regardless of how you feel about Elon, the real impact both companies have on the environment shows the absurdity of all this corporate green washing nonsense.
Brief background: the Net-Zero Banking Alliance launched in 2021 and by now it includes the majority of large European banks [1]. The departure of Morgan Stanley means they are now less than a handful US banks participating (notably sustainability oriented ones like Amalgamated and Climate First).
I think it's a shame that ESG/DEI/etc all got lumped in together by the culture warriors on various ends of the spectrum. It makes logical sense that a business that acts responsibly vis-a-vis its environmental externalities would generate greater value in the long run (whether because they've avoided fines, or reduced the negative externalities, or whatever) [0]. I don't think we'd have as much of this climate backtracking if the "E" had been kept separate from the "S" and the "G". Unfortunately, now it's all been lumped together as part of the never ending culture war. Shame.
[0] This doesn't speak to the problem of "greenwashing" investments, but that's a different thread imo.
Why am I not surprised? We’re starting 2025 just as we ended 2024—with masks dropping everywhere. From Big Oil slashing investments in green energy, to U.S. banks walking back on sustainability-linked loans, to the EU's push for an omnibus that could weaken already fragile regulations. And let’s not even get started on carbon markets turning into a growing scam.
Maybe it’s a good thing? Clarity can be painful, but it’s better than living in illusions. Time to take the reins ourselves—invest consciously, act decisively, and demand accountability.
This is my wish for all of us in 2025: that we see things as they are, not as we wish they were, and have the courage to drive the change we need.
Apologies if this sounds overly philosophical—blame it on the rainy Brussels weather. It does things to a person!
Not surprising. There are less than 140 banks in the alliance globally. There are only something like 3-4 in the US. They're not going to spend time and money on the alliance when their competitors don't.
If the government isn't going to do anything meaningful, and people continue to put people in office who won't do anything meaningful, then whats the point?
Well that's ominous.
It's almost as though companies should be most concerned with profit and not unproductive virtue based working groups that don't produce shareholder value /shrug.
https://archive.is/HxhvK