Contrary to recent reports, woke is not yet broke on Wall Street, at least when it comes to the all-important sustainability problem of climate change. While many financial firms have adopted a lower profile around environmental, social, and governance policies of late, this is mainly a tactical retreat rather than a capitulation on the net-zero agenda.
In the latest example, over the past few weeks, the six largest U.S. banks have exited the Net-Zero Banking Alliance, while BlackRock, the largest investment management firm in the world, quietly left the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. Members of both climate coalitions commit to aligning their lending and investment activities with net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, which necessarily means cutting off financing to traditional energy companies.
