Last week, BlackRock filed comments with the SEC calling for a dramatic weakening of the SEC’s proposal to mandate climate risk disclosure by public companies. The asset manager’s leadership repeatedly insists that BlackRock views climate risk as investment risk, yet the proposed amendments to the SEC rule create gaping loopholes that damage the scope and […]
From Saudi Arabia’s assault on Yemen to murders of Indigenous environmental defenders in the oil-rich Amazon to the United States’ industry-supported invasion of Iraq and Libya, the oil and gas industry is an inherent driver of conflict, violence, and human rights abuses. Russia’s sales of oil and gas account for 40% of the country’s national […]
Executive Summary: In early February, BlackRock published a new letter to clients on how to manage the energy transition to a net zero economy. Even amidst distracting partisan backlash from Texas and West Virginia, BlackRock confidently stated that it is no longer a question of if the energy transition to a decarbonized economy will happen, […]
New York, Feb 3rd, 2022 – Today, BlackRock published its annual letter to clients and centered it on climate issues and how to navigate the energy transition. A key statement BlackRock makes is that the question is no longer whether a transition to a decarbonized economy will happen, but how. Together with the letter, the […]
Last week, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink released his annual letter to CEOs. Since Fink’s first letter that addressed climate change in 2020, confronting climate change has become a central theme in his public rhetoric and in BlackRock’s marketing. In his 2020 letter, Fink pledged to put sustainability at the center of BlackRock’s business, which was […]
New York, Jan 18th, 2022 — BlackRock CEO and Chairman Larry Fink has released his annual letter to CEOs, without the letter to clients that has been traditionally paired with it in past years. Like in recent years, the letter includes Fink’s discussion of climate issues. Past letters have served to introduce coal exclusion policies […]
So, Vanguard has finally broken its silence and released its first ever coal policy, which, in a shocking twist, actually acknowledges climate risk. Wow! Welcome to 2010, Vanguard. In a perfunctory exercise to satisfy a TCFD mandate, the company vaguely outlined its disclosure expectations for portfolio companies with significant coal exposure. The news came quietly […]
Throughout COP26, Larry Fink has been commenting on what BlackRock’s role should be in reducing global emissions, consistently painting a picture that the firm can only do so much and is already taking adequate action. The BlackRock’s Big Problem campaign is a network of NGOs, financial advocates, researchers, academics, and grassroots groups who know that […]
Click here to find an event near you as part of the Defund Climate Chaos day of action on this Friday, October 29th! As part of the runup to this critical global conference, we’ve seen a massive influx of actions to hold the world’s two largest asset managers, BlackRock and Vanguard, accountable. From vigils and […]
This morning, police arrested at least nine people — including three rabbis — who were demonstrating as part of a protest against BlackRock. The demonstrators who were arrested include Rabbi Rachel Timoner, Rabbi Rachel Kahn-Troster, and Rabbi Stephanie Kolin. The Jewish Youth Climate Movement, with support from the interfaith organization GreenFaith, led the action outside […]
In just a few weeks, world governments will be meeting in Glasgow, Scotland for COP26, which is arguably the most important international climate event since the historic talks in Paris in 2015. Between now and then, many of the world’s largest companies will be coming out with their own climate plans. Vanguard, the world’s largest […]
As is often the case with anything BlackRock does, this interim target carries an outsized impact, not only in what it represents for BlackRock’s own $9T business, but what it implies to the companies driving scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions worldwide and the financial community at large. BlackRock faces a choice. It can embody […]
We live in an age where the dissonance between rhetoric and action is greater than ever. Every week, we hear of political leaders speaking to the urgent need of tackling the climate crisis and the most powerful and influential CEOs committing to reaching net zero by 2050. But we are simultaneously seeing the climate crisis […]
What role did BlackRock and Vanguard play in the revolt? Of the critical climate votes we watched closely this year, here is what we know and don’t know: GOOD VOTES: BlackRock voted FOR change at BP and Bunge. MIXED VOTES: At the contentious Exxon AGM we saw a mixed bag. BlackRock voted for 3 new […]
Joint Article By Reclaim Finance, Urgewald & BlackRock’s Big Problem In his annual letter this year, Blackrock’s CEO Larry Fink declared once again that ‘climate risk is investment risk’. Ahead of the 2021 voting season, the asset management titan also published a memo setting out what it would be expecting from polluting companies. After criticism of BlackRock’s oversized role in fuelling […]
Today, BlackRock stepped outside its pattern by releasing multiple bulletins on proxy votes it made earlier in the season. It made public its votes at BP (May 12th), Shell (May 18th), ExxonMobil (May 26th), Chevron (May 26th), Total (May 28th). Collectively the voting bulletins reveal an improved but mixed record for BlackRock’s climate votes this […]
As the world’s largest investor in climate destruction, BlackRock has been under pressure from activists, elected officials, and Indigenous and frontline leaders to adopt policies that match its climate rhetoric and to vote for climate this shareholder season. Preliminary analysis of key climate votes this spring shows that BlackRock largely failed to meet its rhetoric. […]
The International Energy Agency’s recent groundbreaking report makes it clear that reaching net zero emissions by 2050 means no new investments in new fossil fuel extraction from now on. While investors like BlackRock need to drive this message home to the fossil fuel sector directly, it also needs to recognize that no new coal, oil, […]
Today, a new report from the Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE) and LittleSis was released showing that BlackRock’s Lead Independent Director Murry Gerber has doubled down on his investments in fossil fuels despite BlackRock’s public claims that it is committed to reducing climate risk. This is the polar opposite of the visionary […]
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