Morgan Stanley pulls back on plastic pollution targets

Morgan Stanley no longer has an explicit financing goal to tackle plastic pollution, as the Wall Street bank quietly shelves an earlier target.

In its latest ESG report, published on Wednesday, Morgan Stanley omits an earlier pledge to facilitate the prevention, removal or reduction of 50 million metric tons of plastic waste from the environment by 2030. A web page with details that once outlined the firm’s commitment on plastics now says “we couldn’t find your page.”

A spokesperson for Morgan Stanley said plastic waste “remains a sustainability focus.” The firm’s change in plastics reporting was linked to challenges with “the quality of data needed to meet our disclosure standards,” the spokesperson said.

Morgan Stanley will “no longer track financing activities related to plastic waste as a standalone goal,” the bank said. “We continue to work with clients and partners to finance solutions across the plastic value chain as part of our commitment to mobilize $1 trillion in sustainable finance by 2030.”

The bank’s previously published target on plastics dates back to April 2019, and was accompanied at the time by ads splashed across screens at its Times Square headquarters. Since then, Wall Street has tempered its enthusiasm toward environmental, social and governance strategies against a backdrop of higher interest rates, energy-supply concerns and a fraught US political debate. 

On Sept. 20, 2021, Morgan Stanley tweeted its plastic targets in connection with that year’s climate week. Here is the tweet:

#ClimateWeek begins today. As global warming spurs more intense and frequent heatwaves, floods and droughts, companies are hurrying to scale near-term climate change solutions to help the world reach net-zero emissions by 2050. Explore our insights: https://t.co/ezhT3XuGWR pic.twitter.com/369XFZ00Z7

— Morgan Stanley (@MorganStanley) September 20, 2021

James Gorman, who was chief executive officer of Morgan Stanley when the bank released its plastics target, had praised the decision to become the first among peers to take such a step. Audrey Choi, Morgan Stanley’s chief sustainability officer at the time, said back then that addressing the plastics problem represented a “very significant investment area.” 

Morgan Stanley helped arrange a $705 million green bond in 2020 for Coca-Cola Femsa, with proceeds earmarked for helping meet its plastics commitments. A similar deal for a $1.25 billion bond was struck for PepsiCo Inc. in 2022.

By the end of 2022, Morgan Stanley’s plastics policy had supported the prevention, removal or reduction of almost 14 million metric tons of plastic waste from entering the environment and landfills, according to a company statement issued last year.

Plastic pollution has developed into a global “epidemic” with plastic waste at twice the level it was two decades ago and only a small fraction getting recycled, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. About 11 million tons of plastic waste end up in lakes, rivers and oceans each year, a figure that’s set to almost triple by 2040, the United Nations Environment Programme estimates.

Efforts are currently underway to secure a legally binding UN-backed treaty to address plastic pollution by the end of 2024. Some jurisdictions, such as the European Union, have already introduced legislation to curb plastic use and enforce recycling.