Morgan Stanley

Firmwide Sustainability

We integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations throughout our business practices and operations. Our leadership, employees and stakeholders work to drive and support our global sustainability strategy and priorities.

Sustainable Business Practices

We aim to manage our supply chain sustainably, improve the resilience of our operations, foster an inclusive workforce and engage our people.

Learn more about our activities

ESG Governance

Firmwide leadership and committees across the Firm focus on ESG governance, which covers diversity and inclusion, climate and sustainability efforts.

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Disclosure and Stakeholder Engagement

We provide decision-useful information to stakeholders, consult them and monitor relevant global frameworks to continually improve our reporting and disclosures.

Learn about our engagements

Sustainability Governance & Risk Management

Our core values—do the right thing, put clients first, lead with exceptional ideas, commit to diversity and inclusion and give back—drive everything we do. To build operational resilience, we’re working to integrate ESG across business activities and operations, with support from dedicated teams. Several Morgan Stanley Board committees have explicit responsibilities for D&I, climate and sustainability. The Governance and Sustainability Committee, which was previously the Nominating and Governance Committee, has overseen ESG initiatives for several years. The Board Risk Committee oversees climate risks. The Compensation, Management, Development and Succession Committee assists the Board in its oversight of strategies, policies and practices related to human capital generally, including diversity and inclusion. The Audit Committee oversees the firm’s voluntary public sustainability and climate disclosures. The Board is briefed on topics across each theme, as appropriate.

SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP

Our Chief Sustainability Officer, Jessica Alsford, leads our efforts to promote sustainability through the global capital markets in partnership with divisions across the firm. She heads Global Sustainability Office, which partners with senior leaders in our three businesses as well as support services and risk and control functions.

“As Chief Sustainability Officer and CEO of the Institute for Sustainable Investing, I am proud of the work Morgan Stanley has done to mobilize capital in ways that drive systemic and sustainable change around the world," Alsford says. "As the landscape around ESG continues to grow increasingly complex, we remain committed to leveraging our expertise to serve the sustainability needs of our clients, our communities and our colleagues.”

For more information on sustainability oversight at Morgan Stanley and our approach to governance more broadly, see our latest ESG report.

For information about Morgan Stanley's approach to corporate governance more broadly, please visit our corporate governance page.

OUR SUSTAINABILITY COUNCILS

  • Firm ESG Committee

  • Climate Risk Committee

  • ESG Disclosure Committee

The Global Sustainability Office (GSO) drives the firm’s sustainability strategy through thought leadership and innovation. GSO partners closely with colleagues throughout our three business segments, support services, and risk and control functions.

The Global Sustainability Office (GSO) drives the firm’s sustainability strategy through thought leadership and innovation. GSO partners closely with colleagues throughout our three business segments, support services, and risk and control functions.

Stakeholder Engagement

Our approach to sustainability benefits from the varied perspectives and insights of our key sustainability stakeholders.

Shareholders

We maintain close dialogue with investors and work to meet their requests for sustainability information. The data, content and narrative in the firm’s ESG Report is informed by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) standards for Investment Banking, Asset Management and Commercial Banking and the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

Clients

We host ESG conferences for clients and other stakeholders globally. We engage them directly to better understand ESG preferences and collaborate on solutions and services to help meet their needs.

Employees

We encourage our employees to be sustainability-minded through events, campaigns and our company intranet, and use surveys to gather feedback.

Nonprofits and Civil Society

We value outside views on our sustainability strategy, gaining insights through individual and small-group dialogues as well as industry groups and third-party events.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY AT MORGAN STANLEY IN OUR LATEST REPORT

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Sustainable Business Practices

Morgan Stanley aims to integrate ESG considerations across our business practices and global operations. Our focus areas include fostering an inclusive workforce and culture, building a sustainable supply chain, improving workplace sustainability and resilience and engaging our employees.

Our Focus Areas

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

APPROACH

We strive to be a global leader in diversity and inclusion, bringing our colleagues, communities and clients together in a shared commitment to creating a more equitable society. To learn more about our strategy, goals and programs, please see our latest ESG report.

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MORGAN STANLEY INCLUSIVE VENTURES LAB

The Morgan Stanley Inclusive Venture Lab is an intensive five-month accelerator for underrepresented founders of tech and tech-enabled startups. The Lab provides tools, resources and access to investors.

Explore the MSIVL

INSTITUTE FOR INCLUSION

The Morgan Stanley Institute for Inclusion is led by our Chairman and CEO, and is committed to driving greater workplace diversity and inclusion, advancing equity through philanthropy, and driving greater economic outcomes for underserved communities through our products, services and business practices.

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Sustainable Supply Chain

SUPPLIER DIVERSITY

We seek to employ a diverse global workforce and supplier base. Our long-running Supplier Diversity program identifies diverse-owned companies that can meet our business needs.

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SUPPLIER CODE OF CONDUCT

We expect our suppliers to meet our core values and high standards for doing business. Our Supplier Code of Conduct lays out our requirements for human and labor rights, environmental protections and ethical business practices.

Download the Code

ERADICATING MODERN SLAVERY

We strive to uphold global standards for responsible business, including equal opportunity, freedom to associate and bargain collectively, and the elimination of child and forced labor. We are committed to help ensure modern slavery has no part in our operations or supply chain.

See our Statement

Employee Engagement

SUSTAINABILITY

We encourage our employees to join sustainability-related employee networks, events and campaigns. In 2019, we launched a campaign to educate employees about Firm measures to mitigate the environmental impact of our physical business operations and to encourage them to adopt an environmentally conscious mindset, and make sustainable choices.

TRAINING

Our Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics and Business Conduct enshrine our ethical practices and define the daily behavior we expect from our people. Employees certify that they understand and will adhere to these codes as new hires and every year they remain with the firm. To enable our talented people to fulfill their professional potential, we offer ongoing training and skills development.

Read our Code of Conduct

NETWORKS

Morgan Stanley promotes several Employee Networking Groups (ENGs) that enrich our global business and culture through relationship-building and the exchange of ideas. Employees use these forums to interact, learn and support each other while increasing their firmwide exposure, gaining professional development skills and giving back to the community through volunteer efforts.

Explore our ENGs

Operational Sustainability



We actively manage the environmental impact of our physical business operations and seek to minimize the associated emissions. Our strategy aims to reduce the firm’s energy, water and paper consumption and waste, helping us attain a more sustainably built operational environment.

100% CARBON NEUTRAL

Morgan Stanley achieved carbon neutrality in 2022.1  Our carbon-neutrality status covers direct Scope 1 emissions from our operations, indirect Scope 2 location-based emissions from purchasing energy and Scope 3 emissions from business travel and owned assets that are leased. For more information, please see the "Achieving Carbon-Neutral Operations" section of our ESG Report.

100% RENEWABLE ELECTRICITY

Renewable electricity attributes account for 100% of global operational electricity in 2022. For more information, please see the "Achieving Carbon-Neutral Operations" section of our ESG Report.

SUPPORTING OUR COMMUNITIES

Giving Back

Morgan Stanley is rooted in communities around the world, providing a unique opportunity to make a difference through philanthropy and public works. Learn more about our long-lasting partnerships, community-based grants and how we engage our best asset—our people.

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Download the latest ESG Report

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1 The Firm’s carbon-neutral status reflects the actions in the Firm’s 2022 ESG Report. This is a management-determined metric that may be viewed or calculated differently by others who may use the same “carbon neutral” terminology. Morgan Stanley has determined that the boundary around our carbon-neutrality status is Scope 1, Scope 2 location-based emissions, Scope 3 business travel and downstream leased assets, carbon offsets purchased from the voluntary carbon market, green power contracts and market instruments (e.g. Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs), Energy Attribute Certificates (EACs)). There are instances in which green power contracts and instruments that we accept for our purposes to meet carbon neutrality do not align with the criteria required to reflect those purchases in our Scope 2 market-based figure in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol: A Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (Revised Edition) (“GHG Protocol”). For our GHG emissions table aligned with the GHG protocol, please see the Firm’s 2022 ESG Report.

Disclosures

All materials, information and opinions in this report and data on this website were prepared by Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC and their affiliates (collectively hereafter, “Morgan Stanley”).

This website does not provide individually tailored investment advice. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it. Any securities mentioned are provided for informational purposes only and should not be deemed as a recommendation to buy or sell any security or other financial instrument or to participate in any trading strategy. Securities discussed on this website may not be appropriate for all investors. It should not be assumed that the securities transactions or holdings discussed were or will be profitable. Morgan Stanley recommends that investors independently evaluate particular investments and strategies, and encourages investors to seek the advice of a Morgan Stanley Financial Advisor. The appropriateness of a particular investment or strategy will depend on an investor’s individual circumstances and objectives.

Historical data shown represents past performance and does not guarantee comparable future results. Furthermore, this website may contain forward-looking statements and there can be no guarantee that they will come to pass. Indexes are unmanaged and not available for direct investment.

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The returns on a portfolio consisting primarily of Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) aware investments or sustainable investments may be lower or higher than a portfolio that is more diversified or where decisions are based solely on investment considerations. Because ESG or sustainability criteria exclude some investments, investors may not be able to take advantage of the same opportunities or market trends as investors that do not use such criteria.

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