{"id":362875,"date":"2025-01-21T09:23:41","date_gmt":"2025-01-21T08:23:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=362875"},"modified":"2025-01-21T09:23:43","modified_gmt":"2025-01-21T08:23:43","slug":"big-banks-retreat-from-climate-alliance-an-encouraging-step-toward-dismantling-esg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=362875","title":{"rendered":"Big banks\u2019 retreat from climate alliance an encouraging step toward dismantling ESG"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From CFACT<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Paul Teller<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In clear preparation for President Trump\u2019s second term, six of America\u2019s largest banks \u2013 Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo \u2013 have made an exodus from the leading woke climate alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN-sponsored Net Zero Banking Alliance<\/a> (NZBA) requires leading global banks to put climate extremism over good business by aligning their investments, lending, and capital market activities with the goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions levels by 2050.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disguising itself as a philanthropic endeavor essential for the \u201csustainable finance agenda,<\/a>\u201d the NZBA functions as an agent of the left\u2019s radical climate agenda. It wrongfully prioritizes virtue-signaling climate boondoggles. Thankfully, data suggests that members have engaged primarily only in noisy financial virtue signaling<\/a>. Altering investment strategy to advance climatism will hinder economic growth and destroy shareholder value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These banks should be commended for waking up and walking away from this woke climate pact that does nothing for the environment or the American people. Their withdrawal is a win for the growing pendulum swing against the progressive takeover of American industry under the banner of environmental, social, and governance standards (ESGs).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the name of \u201csocial justice\u201d and \u201cprogress,\u201d ESGs wreak havoc on the economy.  ESG subsidizes unreliable energy leading to blackouts, raises costs on American families, and reduces good financial investments, while discouraging innovation in the name of climate alarmism and advancing \u201csocial justice.\u201d  These \u201cstandards\u201d undermine America\u2019s competitiveness on the world stage, leave us more vulnerable to China and make life more difficult for American families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The recent whiplash against NZBA\u2019s ESG agenda is having a resounding effect.  BlackRock announced last week that it was pulling out of a similar UN-sponsored climate initiative: the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. This decision comes in the wake of continued scrutiny around BlackRock\u2019s history of aggressive ESG investment strategies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incoming Trump administration is likely to continue amplifying pressure on pro-ESG companies by countering woke ESG practices and supporting antitrust violation investigations of ESG zealots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the past two years, several Republican state attorneys general have threatened legal action and opened investigations into ESG-compliant companies. Agreements like the NZBA often require collaboration across different banks, which can limit competition and naturally raise antitrust concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By committing to a net-zero action plan, banks are essentially promising to fully boycott the fossil fuel industry by 2050, which could compromise their duties to investors and customers. In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton conducted a 2023 review of major US banks under a Texas law prohibiting governmental entities from entering into business with companies boycotting the oil and gas industries. He closed the probe following the banks\u2019 withdrawal from NZBA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, the work has just begun. Undoing the damage will take time. The recent mass withdrawal from the NZBA is encouraging, but the gesture doesn\u2019t necessarily signify total victory over ESG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although Bank of America withdrew from the NZBA, it remains publicly committed to the net zero platform and principles. Similarly, Citigroup said<\/a> that it also remains \u201ccommitted to reaching net-zero\u201d and announced that while it was pulling out of the NZBA, it will still support the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero,<\/a> NZBA\u2019s parent alliance that Citigroup helped found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To truly regain trust with American consumers, these banks must demonstrate a renewed commitment to their fiduciary duties to shareholders and depositors. Loans and investments should be made in pursuit of maximizing value rather than forging virtue-signaling global alliances with others\u2019 resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time will tell if these recent moves are simply media stunts to avoid the ire of the incoming President Trump or if a true realignment of principles and ethics is occurring in the financial sector. Either way, this news is a win for economic freedom and prosperity and is yet another step in neutralizing the political correctness and radical wokeism holding corporate America hostage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This article originally appeared at Real Clear Energy<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In clear preparation for President Trump\u2019s second term, six of America\u2019s largest banks \u2013 Citigroup, Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo \u2013 have made an exodus from the leading woke climate alliance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":362876,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691832759,691819146,691819325,691818229,691818154,691832761,691831504,691832760],"class_list":{"0":"post-362875","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","6":"hentry","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-americas-largest-banks","9":"tag-blackrock","10":"tag-citigroup","11":"tag-esg","12":"tag-net-zero","13":"tag-radical-climate-agenda","14":"tag-trump-administration","15":"tag-un-sponsored-net-zero-banking-alliance-nzba","17":"fallback-thumbnail"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/00thumbnail-31-what-is-esg-1.jpg__1600x900_q85_crop_subsampling-2.jpg?fit=1320%2C860&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1woP","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":406937,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=406937","url_meta":{"origin":362875,"position":0},"title":"Net Zero Banking Alliance Terminated","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"07\/10\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cRIP\u2014and not a moment too soon for the 2.1 billion humans that suffer in abject energy poverty and much too late for the 16.5 million loved ones they have lost due to indoor air pollution during the 5 1\/2 years the Net Zero Banking Alliance was working to prevent financing\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Climate change\"","block_context":{"text":"Climate change","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=climate-change"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQODTUeq_Ssj-W5T0OpkQYEoHZt4K8U7r_mJVK41wT04KjxPOr0FBNqxoUQbCocvROlLfMn7b9nqL0IaQIWsun-dEWKcqUNtPcPNfQDudkI1lwyI_zqfUWTITJs2mhmE-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C520&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQODTUeq_Ssj-W5T0OpkQYEoHZt4K8U7r_mJVK41wT04KjxPOr0FBNqxoUQbCocvROlLfMn7b9nqL0IaQIWsun-dEWKcqUNtPcPNfQDudkI1lwyI_zqfUWTITJs2mhmE-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C520&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQODTUeq_Ssj-W5T0OpkQYEoHZt4K8U7r_mJVK41wT04KjxPOr0FBNqxoUQbCocvROlLfMn7b9nqL0IaQIWsun-dEWKcqUNtPcPNfQDudkI1lwyI_zqfUWTITJs2mhmE-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C520&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQODTUeq_Ssj-W5T0OpkQYEoHZt4K8U7r_mJVK41wT04KjxPOr0FBNqxoUQbCocvROlLfMn7b9nqL0IaQIWsun-dEWKcqUNtPcPNfQDudkI1lwyI_zqfUWTITJs2mhmE-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C520&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/0AQODTUeq_Ssj-W5T0OpkQYEoHZt4K8U7r_mJVK41wT04KjxPOr0FBNqxoUQbCocvROlLfMn7b9nqL0IaQIWsun-dEWKcqUNtPcPNfQDudkI1lwyI_zqfUWTITJs2mhmE-1.jpeg?fit=1200%2C520&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":361308,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=361308","url_meta":{"origin":362875,"position":1},"title":"The last American Banker rats are leaving the UN Net Zero Banking club","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/01\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Such is the phase change of the Trump win, the largest banks in the USA, JP Morgan and Morgan Chase have now joined\u00a0Goldman Sachs,\u00a0Wells Fargo\u00a0the\u00a0Bank of America, and Citigroup.","rel":"","context":"In \"big US banks\"","block_context":{"text":"big US banks","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=big-us-banks"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Rats-as-Representations-of-Resourcefulness.webp?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Rats-as-Representations-of-Resourcefulness.webp?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Rats-as-Representations-of-Resourcefulness.webp?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Rats-as-Representations-of-Resourcefulness.webp?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/0Rats-as-Representations-of-Resourcefulness.webp?fit=1200%2C750&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":256029,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=256029","url_meta":{"origin":362875,"position":2},"title":"CFACT challenges ESG at BOA, CitiGroup shareholder meetings","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"05\/05\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"As part of its Shareholder Accountability Project, CFACT attended the shareholder meetings of Bank of America and CitiGroup to act as a watchdog on the two large banking corporations.","rel":"","context":"In \"Bank of America\"","block_context":{"text":"Bank of America","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bank-of-america"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/00iStock-1306922625-ESG-1536x922-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/00iStock-1306922625-ESG-1536x922-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/00iStock-1306922625-ESG-1536x922-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/00iStock-1306922625-ESG-1536x922-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/00iStock-1306922625-ESG-1536x922-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C720&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":224102,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=224102","url_meta":{"origin":362875,"position":3},"title":"Some Banks and Energy Companies Finally Starting to Get Some Backbone","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"16\/10\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"There\u2019s nothing like a good energy crisis to bring a dose of reality to climate change and renewable energy fantasies.","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-752.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-752.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-752.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/image-752.png?fit=1024%2C512&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":360119,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=360119","url_meta":{"origin":362875,"position":4},"title":"It\u2019s a win: Bankers are backing away from the Monster Banking Climate Cartel","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/01\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It\u2019s a good start to 2025 \u2014 just quietly, the money is exiting the Monster Banker Climate Cartel. Since the Trump win, the bankers are running away suddenly from the United Nations \u201cNet-Zero Banking Alliance\u201d (NZBA) which is a sub-part of GFANZ (the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero) \u2014\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Bank of America Corp\"","block_context":{"text":"Bank of America Corp","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bank-of-america-corp"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/02-GFL-Noticia-Social-EN-13.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/02-GFL-Noticia-Social-EN-13.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/02-GFL-Noticia-Social-EN-13.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/02-GFL-Noticia-Social-EN-13.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/02-GFL-Noticia-Social-EN-13.jpg?fit=1200%2C628&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":220075,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=220075","url_meta":{"origin":362875,"position":5},"title":"Yes, U.S. Banks, It\u2019s Past Time to End Support for Extreme Climate Goals and ESG","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"22\/09\/2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Ending the use of fossil fuels in a vain attempt to prevent climate change is bad for the economy","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1064.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1064.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1064.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1064.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/image-1064.png?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=362875"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":362879,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362875\/revisions\/362879"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/362876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=362875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=362875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=362875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}