The in-house lawyers at Wells Fargo & Co. and New York City-based Goldman Sachs have successfully fought off climate-related proxy resolutions sought by activist investors.

The proposed resolutions asked the banks to work to reduce the full carbon footprint of their loan and investment portfolios in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement on global warming.

But the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently granted the banks' motions to exclude the resolutions from shareholder consideration. A number of other banks in the world have already committed to decrease the climate impact of their loans in accord with the Paris goals.