Speaking of Glasgow and trendy climate policies that haven’t aged well, and of international man of progress Mark Carney, what about GFANZ? For it was also in November 2021 at Glasgow that, with exquisite timing, he launched the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero that aimed to unite the capitalists of the world to finance only Net Zero by 2050 projects. And collapse of his vaunted GFANZ is so spectacular, and ignominious, that it deserves its own separate item. Banks rushed into its Net-Zero Banking Alliance subsidiary, trailing clouds of shiny green virtue. Within a year over 450 companies with US$130 trillion, yes trillion, in assets had joined. But they are now rushing out, trailing clouds of panicky red ink. The big American banks have gone, and now most big Canadian ones, as part of a general rush for the doors of financial big green that even saw the U.S. Federal Reserve duck out of the “Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System (NGFS)” over its mission creep and wackiness. So we ask again: does Carney want to run on that record, of zealotry and malfunction? But how can he not? Pretend it was his evil twin impersonating him?
Morgan Stanley has fled GFANZ, like Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. And Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo and, on Jan. 7, JPMorgan Chase. All are the sort of outfits that, even if you’re not in the business, you don’t need to be told who they are. Despite the need for a Canadian angle if you are Canadian, others might not instantly recognize the latest to scurry, our Bank of Montreal, National Bank, TD Bank and CIBC (“Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce”, a name from another era). Only the Royal Bank and Scotiabank remain of the traditional Canadian giants, along with several credit unions… for now. (No, wait, Scotiabank just left as well.)
Many non-financiers might also need a note appended for some huge non-Canadian beasts in the stampede, such as Vanguard, which bolted in late 2022 and is the world’s second-largest asset manager. Though probably not for the largest, Blackrock, which in a massive blow bailed this January 9, taking its $11 trillion in assets with it. In response the Net Zero Asset Managers announced they were pausing their activities to panic in peace, while GFANZ under which they operate had already declared that it was restructuring on Jan. 2.
What a disaster for all involved. Indeed, one has the queasy impression of a snake oil salesman exposed. Including on the part of those initially persuaded judging by their convoluted excuses. The Canadian Press, which tried to hang the whole business on those wretched Republicans with their “sustained criticism… on various climate alliances and the very concept of factoring environmental risks into their business operations”, but then said:
“Canadian banks did not cite issues in the U.S. for why they were leaving the alliance, but in statements said they are able to continue with their climate work without the help of the group.”
Riiiight. Tell us more. Or don’t, if it’s going to sound like the BMO’s verbiage that:
“We have robust internal capabilities to implement relevant international standards, supporting our climate strategy and meeting regulatory requirements.”
Robust, relevant, regulatory whatever. And CP also provided a paraphrase that won’t have Cicero looking to his reputation:
“National Bank said it left the alliance as it streamlines how it reports on its plans and progress. It said it would have a pragmatic approach and work with companies in all sectors to decarbonize.”
Streamlined. Pragmatic. Ruuuuuun for the door! And the political thesaurus:
“TD said it has what it needs to advance its strategy and advise its clients as they adapt their businesses.”
And you ain’t it. The piece then quoted the CIBC’s blather verbatim:
“Having made significant progress alongside our clients in these areas, we are now well-positioned to further this work outside of the formal structure of the NZBA.”
Or not. As for Royal Bank:
“At a Jan. 7 conference RBC chief executive Dave McKay said the alliance was in flux and questioned whether it was the right mechanism to reduce emissions.”
Oh yeah. That’s a tough one all right. We much prefer the Federal Reserve’s explanation for exiting the central bank version, that “The work of the NGFS has increasingly broadened in scope, covering a wider range of issues that are outside of the Board’s statutory mandate.”
Greenpeace was not amused. A spokesgreen said “To call this a craven act of cowardice on climate would be too kind” then called for them to be savaged by the state:
“It does, however, demonstrate that if we want to avoid more communities being burned or flooded in climate-fuelled disasters by moving big money out of fossil fuels and into climate solutions, then we need governments to regulate banks the same way they do smokestacks and tailpipes.”
Even the analogy stings. A tailpipe? A smokestack? And here you said the cool kids would like us.
Of course the banks got themselves into it with an unattractive combination of policy naivete and public relations worldliness. But it was Carney who led them in and they probably aren’t thanking him. Nor should they.
It took a while for the banksters to awaken from their drunken orgies of climate virtue to discover the nature of those with whom they shared a pillow.
Hmm - all the Banks and financial institutions withdrawing from an overarching organisation that seeks to impose a collective control over supposedly free markets for services. Behavior that in relatively recent times would have triggered anti-Trust laws and regulation?
With the political environment swinging back to the center right all over the world (except, sadly, the UK), perhaps these behemoths are not only looking nervously at their bottom lines, but also the very real prospect of Trump et al launching anti-Trust offensives against them.
The whole climate thing was a fraud from the start, the purpose of the fraud was to overthrow sovereign governments and replace them with global bureaucracies. Steeeeerike 3! You are outta here!
These banks have been hedging on this subject for some time now.But with return of Trump,it hastened their rush for the exits of this GFANZ Ponzi Scheme.Got a chuckle out of CDN's use of a new word "spokesgreen".