Morgan Stanley hits 70% of $1T ESG funding goal

Morgan Stanley said it’s more than two-thirds of the way toward achieving its target to finance $1 trillion of low-carbon and sustainability investments by the end of the decade.

The Wall Street firm said in an ESG report this week that it has allocated $700 billion of financing, with more than $550 billion of that directed to green activities. The bank said numerous groups contributed to the program, including its securitized products, commodities and wealth management divisions. The funds went to areas including clean energy, carbon removal and social housing.

Pledges to funnel huge sums of money into clean energy and sustainable activities are seen by many of the major banks as a natural accompaniment to their commitments to cut emissions. Still, while the amounts are substantial, critics say they aren’t enough to wean the world off fossil fuels and address other sustainability goals.

Earlier this year, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said it was more than halfway toward meeting its goal of putting $750 billion toward sustainable finance by 2030. Meanwhile, Citigroup Inc. said it’s achieved almost $350 billion of its goal of putting $1 trillion toward sustainable finance by the end of the decade.