Credit: narawit/Adobe Stock
Just days after BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, dropped out of Net Zero Asset Managers, the climate change investing initiative suspended its activities on Monday.
On Jan. 9, BlackRock, with more than $10 trillion in assets under management, dropped out of the United Nations-backed Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) 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.
However, BlackRock’s exit followed months of escalating pressure from some Republican lawmakers over the coalition’s stance on investing in fossil fuel companies, with concern that such pressure could rise further as President-elect Donald Trump takes office next week.
Recommended For You
On Jan. 10, Net Zero posted this response to BlackRock’s departure on its website: “We are disappointed to see any investor withdraw, but as a voluntary initiative, we respect any individual decisions signatories take.”
Yesterday, the initiative posted this message on its website: “Recent developments in the U.S. and different regulatory and client expectations in investors’ respective jurisdictions have led to NZAM launching a review of the initiative to ensure NZAM remains fit for purpose in the new global context … As the initiative undergoes this review, it is suspending activities to track signatory implementation and reporting. NZAM will also remove the commitment statement and list of NZAM signatories from its website, as well as their targets and related case studies, pending the outcome of the review.”
Launched in 2020, the NZAM initiative aimed to deliver “the ambitious action and investment strategies that will be necessary to achieve the goal of net zero emissions” by 2050. 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.
Related: Fund giant Vanguard quits clean energy alliance, after pushback from 13 states
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.
© 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.
