Goldman Sachs quits global climate coalition for banks

By Simon Jessop and Virginia Furness

Goldman Sachs said it has quit a sector coalition aimed at aligning bank lending and investment activities with global efforts to fight climate change, becoming the most high-profile member to leave the group.

The U.S. investment bank's decision comes against a backdrop of pressure from some Republican politicians who have suggested that membership of the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) could breach anti-trust rules.

Goldman Sachs gave no explicit reason for its departure, but focused on its strategy for the future and a growing push by regulators to make sustainability efforts mandatory.

"We have the capabilities to achieve our goals and to support the sustainability objectives of our clients. Goldman Sachs is also very focused on the increasingly elevated sustainability standards and reporting requirements imposed by regulators around the world," it said in a statement on Friday.

While it remains unclear what will happen to U.S. rules around climate-related company disclosures under President-elect Donald Trump, many large U.S. firms including Goldman Sachs will have to disclose under European Union rules.

Banks joining the voluntary NZBA agree to align with the world's aim of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, set targets to help get them there and publish progress on their efforts each year, something Goldman Sachs said it would continue to do.

"We have made significant progress in recent years on the firm's net zero goals and we look forward to making further progress, including by expanding to additional sectors in the coming months," it said.

"Our priorities remain to help our clients achieve their sustainability goals and to measure and report on our progress."

A spokesperson for the NZBA declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

The bank said in 2019 it would deliver $750 billion of sustainable financing by 2030, and noted it had reached about 75% of this 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 decarbonisation 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 net zero target by 2050 and has set interim targets to help clients reduce carbon emissions in the energy, power and automotive sectors.

Earlier this year, a number of U.S. investors, including the fund management arm of Goldman Sachs, left a global coalition pushing companies to rein in climate-damaging emissions.

Investors including BlackRock are currently being sued by Texas and 10 other Republican-led states over alleged violations of anti-trust law.