Morgan Stanley became the latest major bank to quit the U.N.-backed Net-Zero Banking Alliance.
On Jan. 2, the New York-based financial services company said it had “decided to withdraw” from the voluntary climate pact sponsored by the U.N. Environment Programme Finance Initiative.
In a statement, Morgan Stanley said its “commitment to net-zero remains unchanged.”
“We aim to contribute to real-economy decarbonization by providing our clients with the advice and capital required to transform business models and reduce carbon intensity,” the company said in a statement.
“We will continue to report on our progress as we work towards our 2030 interim financed emissions targets.”
Representatives of Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Epoch Times.
Net zero is a term for the practice of balancing greenhouse gas emissions with the amount taken out of the atmosphere.
Morgan Stanley has published an environmental and social policy statement. The document, most recently updated in September 2024, says the company considers emissions when financing projects related to the generation of electricity as well as to oil and gas exploration and development.
“Our approach to managing climate risks, including transition risks and physical risks, and pursuing transition finance opportunities is informed by our climate strategy and overall goal of achieving net-zero financed emissions by 2050,” it said in the document.
On its website, the Net-Zero Banking Alliance calls itself a “group of leading global banks committed to aligning their lending, investment, and capital markets activities with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.”
In its most recent annual progress report, published in October 2024, the group said its membership has grown to 144 banks since its founding in April 2021.
Representatives of the alliance declined to comment on the Morgan Stanley decision.
With its Thursday decision, Morgan Stanley joined a rash of U.S. banks that have departed the alliance within the past month.
On Dec. 31, Citigroup and Bank of America said they were leaving the alliance. Those exits followed the December exit of Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs.
In November, 11 state attorneys general, led by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, filed an anti-trust suit against BlackRock, Vanguard Group, and State Street Corp.
In a statement released on Nov. 27, Paxton said the three companies “formed a cartel to rig the coal market, artificially reduce the energy supply, and raise prices.”
The three companies weaponized influence from their stock holdings to pressure coal companies to accommodate “green energy” goals and reduce coal output by more than half by 2030, Paxton’s statement said.
