美國共和黨州：投資別玩氣候牌

美國多個由共和黨主導的州財務官員，正加大對環境、社會及公司治理（ESG）因素在投資決策與股東代理投票中的應用施壓，呼籲資產管理公司撤回將氣候變化視為長期風險的立場，並停止採用「淨零排放」標準。

Republican-led state financial officials across the United States are stepping up pressure against the use of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in investment decisions and shareholder proxy voting. They are urging asset managers to abandon the view that climate change constitutes a long-term financial risk and to stop applying “net-zero” standards.

這波行動緊隨今年初華爾街金融機構陸續退出全球氣候聯盟的潮流，原因包括共和黨州府的調查壓力及聯邦政府領導層變動。部分銀行撤回氣候承諾後，德州與田納西州等已中止先前對銀行的州級調查。

The push follows a wave earlier this year in which Wall Street financial institutions withdrew from global climate alliances, citing pressures from Republican state investigations and shifts in federal leadership. In some cases, after banks rolled back their climate commitments, states such as Texas and Tennessee ended state-level probes into those institutions.

根據 7 月 29 日發出的聯名信，簽署州包括阿拉巴馬、路易斯安那、北卡羅來納、奧克拉荷馬與猶他等。信中告訴「希望在這些州開展業務」的資管公司，應放棄以氣候變化作為投資長期風險的框架，並將代理投票方針「與股東價值對齊，而非迎合環保或社會運動人士提出的目標」。

According to a joint letter issued on July 29, signatory states include Alabama, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Utah. The letter tells asset managers that wish to “do business in these states” to drop climate change as a framework for assessing long-term investment risks, and to align their proxy voting policies “with shareholder value, not with goals advanced by environmental or social activists.”

信中寫道：「雖然部分公司近期已採取鼓舞人心的步驟，例如退出全球氣候聯盟、淡化 ESG 論述及代理投票比例，且部分州已允許有限度恢復合作，但仍有許多工作要做。最核心的問題是回歸受託責任、忠誠、客觀與財務專注等基本原則。」

“While some firms have recently taken encouraging steps - such as withdrawing from global climate alliances, toning down ESG rhetoric, and reducing the proportion of proxy votes cast in line with ESG positions, and while some states have allowed limited cooperation to resume - much work remains to be done,” the letter states. “The core issue is a return to the basic principles of fiduciary duty, loyalty, objectivity, and a focus on financial outcomes.”

州府官員批評，氣候變化的「潛在風險」往往被描述成確定且災難性的，以此合理化迫使企業立即採取可能與其長期商業利益不符的行動。同時，他們將「淨零」與歐盟《企業永續性報告指令》（CSRD）的導入視為「依賴預設的政治結果，而非基於受託判斷」。

State officials criticized the way climate change’s “potential risks” are often portrayed as certain and catastrophic, using this framing to justify forcing companies into immediate actions that may conflict with their long-term business interests. They also characterized “net-zero” and the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) as relying on predetermined political outcomes rather than fiduciary judgment.

此次聯名信的收件對象還包括多家大型資產管理與財富管理機構，涵蓋 Affiliated Managers Group、Alliance Bernstein、BNY Investments and Wealth、Capital Group、Dimensional Fund Advisors、富達投資（Fidelity Investments）、富蘭克林坦伯頓（Franklin Templeton）、Geode Capital Management、MFS 投資管理、摩根士丹利財富管理（Morgan Stanley Wealth Management）、Neuberger Berman、Northern Trust、Nuveen、保德信（Prudential）、嘉信資產管理（Schwab Asset Management）、T. Rowe Price、Wellington Management 及富國銀行財富與投資（Wells Fargo Wealth and Investments）等。

The letter was sent to a number of major asset management and wealth management firms, including Affiliated Managers Group, AllianceBernstein, BNY Investments and Wealth, Capital Group, Dimensional Fund Advisors, Fidelity Investments, Franklin Templeton, Geode Capital Management, MFS Investment Management, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, Neuberger Berman, Northern Trust, Nuveen, Prudential, Schwab Asset Management, T. Rowe Price, Wellington Management, and Wells Fargo Wealth and Investments.

聯名信要求資管公司最遲於 9 月 1 日回覆，並鼓勵被點名的投資經理與各簽署州的財政廳長、審計長、主計長等官員直接對話。信中指出，部分資產管理公司已與州府官員展開溝通。

It requests that asset managers respond no later than September 1 and encourages the named investment managers to engage directly with state treasurers, auditors, and comptrollers in the signatory states. The letter notes that some asset management firms have already begun discussions with state officials.

此外，來自阿拉斯加、亞利桑那、愛達荷、印第安納、愛荷華、堪薩斯、肯塔基、密西西比、密蘇里、內布拉斯加、北達科他、賓夕法尼亞、南卡羅來納、南達科他、西維吉尼亞與懷俄明等州的共和黨財務官員，也共同簽署了該信函。

In addition, Republican financial officers from Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming also signed the letter.