A Reuters report has drawn attention to the splits within a number of financial institutions regarding net zero commitments and fossil fuel funding.

In the latest development, Danish pension fund AkademikerPension is considering leaving the Net Zero Asset Owner Alliance (which controls US$11 trillion in assets) because newly released rules for its 85 members are not stringent enough regarding ownership of assets related to publicly listed oil and gas companies. Chief investment officer Anders Schelde said that the “position [reached after 18 months of consultation] doesn’t live up to our standards and we will have to consider our involvement in NZAOA moving forward […]

We’re not saying all NZAOA members should dump listed equities of oil majors from tomorrow, but it should be a clear aim and clear position that new oil and gas is incompatible with 1.5 degrees”. Some companies in the alliance were reportedly concerned that highly prescriptive rules would attract anti-trust lawsuits and allegations of collusion.

In October last year, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero dropped its own requirement for members to sign up to a United Nations emissions reduction campaign, while two weeks ago members of the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials were reportedly split on how to report on carbon emissions linked to their capital markets business.

In the same week, German insurer Munich Re announced it would withdraw from the Net-Zero Insurance Alliance to avoid antitrust risks. A lawyer at New York law firm Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft told Reuters that such lawsuits in such circumstances were possible but unlikely to succeed, saying that “it’s going to be extremely difficult for a plaintiff, even a government enforcer, to prevail on an antitrust theory of harm.”

Opposing advice may have been received by the wavering financial companies, but one also wonders if the antitrust issue may be something of a pretext to roll back on daunting commitments at a time when oil and gas companies are making record profits.