Tag Archives: climate change and Larry Fink

Laughingstock: The Net-Zero Banking Alliance

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The Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) said in August 2025 that it was pausing operations and initiating a vote to decide on whether to continue working as a membership-based alliance or operate as a framework initiative…The move by the NZBA to suspend activities comes after numerous banks from the U.S. and Europe left the alliance. Those banks said that being part of such an organization was no longer necessary and that their business practices now incorporated the ESG principles learned over the past five years…Shortly after President Trump’s electoral win, major banks including JPMorgan, Citi and Morgan Stanley exited the alliance that they had proudly been a member of for years. The departure of the banks came as many faced strong pressure from the Trump administration and Republican attorneys generals to oppose climate groups and ESG investing more generally…

A sister organization, the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative was also set up, with a similar remit but instead focused on the activities of asset managers. It suspended activities in January 2025 after a wave of departures from the likes of BlackRock and Vanguard…. BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard were sued in November2024 by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who alleged that the asset managers were violating antitrust law by being part of alliances like the NZAM initiative, which worked to move investments away from fossil fuels, especially coal. Paxton said this raised energy costs for consumers by not providing the full remit of energy sources.

In August 2025, a federal-district court judge denied the asset manager’s motion to dismiss the case, allowing litigation to continue under Texas and federal antitrust laws. “Today’s victory represents a major step in holding them accountable. I will continue fighting to protect Texas and defend America’s energy independence from this unlawful conspiracy,” Paxton said…

Excerpt from Yusuf Khan,, Net-Zero Banking Alliance Suspends Activities Amid Wave of Departures, WSJ, Aug. 27, 2025

The Curious Case of Larry Fink, BlackRock: He Stays, They Go

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Few private citizens wield more power in America today than Larry Fink, the chief executive of BlackRock in pushing companies to embrace climate-friendly policies, that has made him a lightning rod. The firm he runs manages some $10 trillion for pension funds, endowments, governments, companies and individuals, equal to more than 10% of the world’s gross domestic product in 2020. As steward for millions of investors, BlackRock wields vast shareholder voting power, which it uses either to back managements or to prod them in new directions.

Today, Mr. Fink is telling CEOs that companies must prepare for a scale back of fossil fuels, and that the private sector should work with governments to do so. He warns of the disruption climate change could cause both the economy and financial markets, but sees historic investment opportunity in the energy shift. It’s a point he has made to conferences in Davos, Venice, Riyadh and Glasgow over the past year. Mr. Fink’s power, combined with his advocacy on a hot-button issue, has made him a flashpoint for activists, politicians and unions, both those who think BlackRock isn’t doing enough and others who say it’s doing too much…

U.S. government officials have called on Mr. Fink to help them cope with crises—the pandemic-rattled financial markets in March 2020, and, during the 2008 financial meltdown. “Treasury Secretaries and finance ministers come and go,” said David Rubenstein, the co-founder of the private-equity firm Carlyle Group Inc. “They work for someone else who can fire them tomorrow and have to build what others want them to. When you are the CEO of the biggest asset manager, you don’t have to do that.”

Excerpts from Dawn Lim Follow, Larry Fink Wants to Save the World (and Make Money Doing It), Jan. 6, 2022