By Simon Jessop and Ross Kerber

LONDON/BOSTON (Reuters) – A major coalition aimed at aligning the asset management industry with global climate goals said it was suspending its activities on Monday, days after BlackRock (NYSE:) , the world’s largest investor, left amid a political backlash in the United States.

BlackRock, which manages about $11.5 trillion in assets, left the Net-Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative on January 9 citing confusion over its climate efforts and legal questions from public officials. The move follows months of mounting pressure from some Republican politicians over its stance on investing in fossil fuel companies, with concerns that such pressure could intensify as President-elect Donald Trump preparing to take office.

The group counted more than 325 signatories managing more than $57.5 trillion in assets as members, according to its website last week, before BlackRock’s departure.

In a letter to its members seen by Reuters, the peer group that helps govern NZAM said it had decided to conduct a review of its activities.

“Recent developments in the US and various regulatory and client expectations in investors’ respective jurisdictions have led to NZAM launching a review initiative to ensure that NZAM remains fit for purpose. in the new global context.

“While the initiative undergoes this review, it has suspended activities to track implementation and report on signatories. NZAM will also remove the statement of commitment and list of NZAM signatories from its website, as well as their targets and relevant case studies, pending the outcome of the review.”

CONTAGION EFFECT

The changes in the NZAM initiative could prevent the kind of flight of asset managers that would reduce the influence of another climate investor group, Klima action (WA:) 100+, last year.

At the time, major fund companies cited independence concerns, not politics, as a reason for their withdrawal. Since then the pressure from US Republican officials has increased on executives to withdraw from showing environmental, social and governance (ESG) assessments in their investment decisions.

These include an inquiry from the Republican-led US House of Representatives Judiciary Committee and a lawsuit in Texas and 10 other Republican-led states that claim the fund’s activism has cut coal production and increased energy prices.

For its part, the NZAM initiative asks members to support the goal, agreed by countries, to prevent global warming and aim to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.