That will ultimately need to change, said Sagarika Chatterjee, director of climate change at Principles for Responsible Investment, a UN-backed investor group that helps coordinate Carney’s group. “We need to see a lot more work happen within these alliances to get everyone up to accelerating a fossil fuel phaseout,” she said.

What’s more, the $130 trillion figure overstates how much money is actually dedicated to achieving net zero emissions. Most asset managers only include a portion of their entire portfolio in the target. For some, coverage is negligible: the Canadian branch of BMO Global Asset Management, a GFANZ member, said it will include just 0.55% of its assets under the net-zero target.

That gives institutions cover to appear green by focusing pressure on sectors relatively easy to decarbonize, while punting critical sectors, said Amanda Starbuck, investor program director for Australian activist group The Sunrise Project. Without strict international regulation, financiers will need to hold themselves to a higher standard, she said: “Asset managers who really are trying to do more should be shouting that they don’t want to be on the same press release as this BS.”

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