ESG & Investing

Wall Street Wants You to Know Profit Comes Before Net Zero

Banks say their first priority is delivering financial returns for clients—and that means energy-transition investments need to be profitable.

Photographer: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images AsiaPac
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Ever since a short clause in the 2015 Paris Agreement called for private funding to support a reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions, the role of the finance sector in delivering climate action has been subject to increasing scrutiny.

Today, so many of the world’s biggest banks and assets managers have promised to reach net zero that one would think these financial firms would go most of the way to covering the price tag for decarbonizing the global economy.