Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon has committed his company to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, a progressive strategy that places woke ideology above corporate success, the National Center for Public Policy Research‘s Free Enterprise Project reported in a press release.
The company announced that it will invest $750 billion in ESG bonds as a new part of its “core strategy,” Bloomberg News reported.
At Goldman Sachs’s annual shareholder meeting, FEP Associate Davis Soderberg called the investment policies “ill-considered and deeply damaging” and accused Solomon of “ignoring his fiduciary duty to his shareholders.”
The company is “introducing racist and sexist ‘critical race’ and ‘woke’ quotas and doctrines into every aspect of working life,” Soderberg said.
“Goldman Sachs is pushing companies to make carbon-reduction decisions that, given carbon-output increases in China and India, can have no effect on the environment while greatly reducing American standards of living,” he said.
Solomon read a seemingly scripted and nearly unintelligible statement about Goldman Sachs’ priorities.
“Our strategy is integrated with the purpose of our firm to advance sustainable economic growth and financial opportunity to ensure credibility with stakeholders both internal and external,” he said. “Our people recognize that inclusive growth and climate transition are increasingly drivers of risk and opportunities for our clients.”
Solomon’s argument, in short, appears to be that woke millionaire and billionaire investors will be upset with Goldman Sachs if it does not advance their progressive policies through its investment strategy.
“His ‘answer’ came nowhere close to justifying Goldman’s far-left green zero-carbon initiative, especially since the largest contributors to carbon emissions, China and India, have shown no signs of playing their part in reductions,” Soderberg said.
FEP Deputy Director Scott Shepard also attended the meeting and commented on Solomon’s response.
“Solomon’s rote answer made clear that Goldman is doing nothing to ensure that ESG isn’t simply being used as a pleasant-sounding facade for divisive, destructive hard-left policies that will hurt Goldman Sachs, the American economy and civil society,” he said.
