Investment giant BlackRock, with more than $10 trillion in assets under management, has officially dropped out of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, a coalition of top corporations who pledge to reach zero-carbon emissions by 2050 – a significant blow to the corporate push to embrace progressive policies on energy conservation. Over the last month, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs and, most recently, JP Morgan Chase have all withdrawn from the climate coalition.
BlackRock’s exit is particularly notable as CEO Larry Fink became vocal about climate change, asking companies that his firm invests in to disclose a plan for how their business model would be compatible with a net-zero economy. When BlackRock, who had been a leader in ESG investing, joined the Net Zero Initiative in 2021 with other major asset managers and corporations, it was seen as a way to institutionalize so-called sustainable investing in the corporate ecosystem.
Recommended For You
Soon thereafter, a swift political backlash developed; sustainable energy investing faced stiff opposition to GOP politicians who ran large state pension funds in red states such as Texas and Florida. Vanguard quit the alliance in 2022.
In December, BlackRock, State Street and Vanguard were sued by a group of 11 Republican states, led by Texas, for allegedly breaking antitrust laws by reducing coal production and boosting electricity prices through their investments, in the highest profile lawsuit yet against the beleaguered environmental, social and governance goals industry, seeking billions in damages.
In a complaint that marks the culmination of a years-long probe by GOP officials taking aim at Wall Street’s efforts to address climate change, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued three of the largest institutional investors in the world, for conspiring to artificially constrict the market for coal through anticompetitive trade practices. This pressured coal companies to slash output and reduce carbon emissions from coal by more than 50% by 2030, driving up consumers’ utility bills, according to the lawsuit.
Related: DOL’s ESG rule: American Retirement Association files to block GOP-led state AGs lawsuit
In December, BlackRock was terminated by the $46 billion Indiana Public Retirement System. Then, on Thursday, the company. announced in a letter to clients on Thursday of its “formal withdrawal” from the United Nations-sponsored initiative, as pressure grows on big corporations to reverse their climate change agendas.
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Lynn Cavanaugh
Lynn Varacalli Cavanaugh is Senior Editor, Retirement at BenefitsPRO. Prior, she was editor-in-chief of the What's New in Benefits & Compensation newsletter. She has worked for major firms in the employee benefits space, Vanguard and Willis Towers Watson, as well as top media companies, including Condé Nast and American Media.
