Goldman Sachs leaves the global coalition of banks for the climate – Business

The move by the US investment bank comes amid pressure from some Republican politicians who have suggested joining the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) could breach antitrust rules.

Goldman Sachs gave no explicit reason for its departure, but focused on its strategy for the future and growing pressure from regulators to mandate sustainability efforts.

“We have the capabilities to achieve our goals and support our clients’ sustainability goals. Goldman Sachs is also very attentive to the increasingly high sustainability standards and reporting requirements imposed by regulators around the world.” , the company said in a statement on Friday.

Although it remains unclear what will happen to U.S. climate-related corporate disclosure rules under President-elect Donald Trump, many large U.S. companies, including Goldman Sachs, will be required to disclose under European Union rules.

Banks that join the voluntary NZBA commit to aligning with the global goal of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, setting targets to help them get there and publishing the progress of their efforts annually ; something Goldman Sachs said it would continue to do.

“We have made significant progress in recent years towards the company’s net zero emissions goals and we look forward to making further progress, including expanding into other sectors in the coming months,” he said. -he declared.

“Our priorities remain helping our customers achieve their sustainability goals and measuring and reporting our progress.”

An NZBA spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

The bank said in 2019 that it would provide $750 billion in sustainable financing by 2030, and noted that it had achieved about 75% of that target in its 2023 sustainability report.

CEO David Solomon reiterated Goldman’s commitment to the energy sector in this report, saying the bank will continue to finance and advise clients in the sector, as well as invest in decarbonization technologies. “We need to do both. It’s not an or, it’s an and,” he wrote.

The bank said it would align its financing activities to support a goal of net zero emissions by 2050 and set interim targets to help its clients reduce carbon emissions in the energy, finance and energy sectors. electricity and automobiles.

Earlier this year, a number of US investors, including the fund management arm of Goldman Sachs, left a global coalition pushing companies to limit their climate-damaging emissions.

Investors including BlackRock are currently being sued by Texas and 10 other Republican-led states for alleged antitrust violations.