Departing US climate envoy John Kerry has accused asset managers of “turning away from science” just weeks after a clutch of the world’s biggest investors stepped back from an industry group set up to tackle climate change.

JPMorgan Asset Management, Pimco and State Street Global Advisors this month announced they would leave Climate Action 100+, an initiative to encourage companies to take action on climate change. BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, said it would play a lesser role in the group.

In an interview with the Financial Times in London this week, Kerry said the moves away by the asset managers, coupled with a decline in pace on climate action, was a “problem” and an “unnecessary reaction” to “disinformation and politics”.