This inspiring virtual event will be MC’d by Niria Alicia, a Xicana human rights and climate justice activist and strategist and Run4Salmon organizer, and named UNEP 2020 Young Champion of the Earth. Event details: What: 2nd People’s Assembly on BlackRock When: Wednesday, May 19th at 4pm ET / 1pm PT Where: Your phone or computer […]
In response to the re-election of Duke Energy board chair Lynn Good and Independent Director Michael Browning, the BlackRock’s Big Problem campaign released the following statements: “As the two largest shareholders of Duke Energy, BlackRock and Vanguard should be transparent about how they voted today on Lynn Good and Michael Browning,” said Roberta Giordano, Finance […]
Upon news that BlackRock and Vanguard voted in favor of Wells Fargo Chairman Charles H. Noski, coalition members of BlackRock’s Big Problem released the following statements: “Wells Fargo has fallen significantly behind the curve when it comes to meeting the moment on climate action, and today it falls even further,” said Ben Cushing, campaign manager […]
BlackRock’s CEO, Larry Fink, has made some big promises to use BlackRock’s leverage to force corporations to act on climate change. Will he keep those commitments and back up his words with voting actions at these shareholder meetings? Here’s a climate-friendly vote that BlackRock took recently that went very under-the-radar: BlackRock voted against the longest-serving […]
With over $16 trillion in total assets under management, BlackRock and Vanguard are the largest shareholders in many of the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitters and their financiers. This distinction carries significant risk and enormous responsibility. As the top two global investors in climate-harming industries, BlackRock and Vanguard have a responsibility to push for long-term […]
From April 13-17, we saw actions in 9 cities coordinated by a coalition of climate activists and grassroots groups. The common theme? To let BlackRock know that this shareholder season, all eyes are on them. The world is watching to see if BlackRock’s leadership will vote in line with their promises on climate, and expecting […]
The day began outside of the Wells Fargo World HQ on Montgomery Street where activists painted a huge street mural calling on Wells Fargo to defund Line 3, a proposed pipeline that would route nearly a million barrels of dirty tar sands per day through Anishinaabe territory, causing irreparable harm to indigenous communities and lands. […]
In BlackRock’s 2021 Stewardship Expectations report, the asset manager finally acknowledged that voting against management and supporting shareholder proposals often leads to positive changes at companies. In January 2021, BlackRock expanded its voting criteria and announced that it will hold directors accountable when their companies fail to address climate change in their business plans. In […]
The full text and full list of signatories of the letter are below. Eloy Terena, Legal Coordinator of the Association of Brazil’s Indigenous Peoples (APIB), and one of the letter’s signers said: “BlackRock’s investments have an impact on our lives and our communities, and the company’s leadership, therefore, has a responsibility for our future. If […]
The Dirtiest Oil The report points to the carbon intensity of tar sands oil–extracting and refining it makes it 3.2-4.5 times more polluting than conventional oil pulled from North America. A recent report in Nature confirmed that extracting all tar sands oil would use up almost one-third of the planet’s remaining carbon budget to keep the world […]
This is an analysis of BlackRock’s “natural capital” commentary, human rights commentary, and relevant climate, human rights, and “natural capital” information given in its 2021 engagement priorities. Notably, BlackRock directly acknowledges the interconnectedness of climate change, ecosystem protection, and Indigenous rights and the fact that corporate activities can harm all three – a first for […]
Keep your word, BlackRock: use your power and vote to save our climate at upcoming AGMs. Dear European BlackRock Executives, You’ve said you want companies to set rigorous targets to tackle climate chaos. Now, with AGM season coming up, it’s time to follow through. If a company doesn’t have a clear climate plan – […]
Neither Larry Fink’s January letters to CEOs and clients, nor the climate memo that BlackRock released in early February spelled out this “ambition”. In those documents, BlackRock’s focus was on BlackRock’s expectations of other companies – how they should consider managing “the impacts that [climate] risks have on their business and demonstrate preparedness to operate […]
New research released today reveals that US investors, particularly, asset managers, still provide an astounding 58 percent of institutional investments – roughly $602 billion – to the global coal industry. Vanguard shamefully tops the list as the world’s largest investor in coal with nearly $86 billion in investments. This is the first time Vanguard has […]
BlackRock’s words sound good. There are five pages of them, including “just” and “equitable” as well as “resilient” and “sustainable.” But, yet again, there is no mention of companies engaging in tar sands destruction, oil expansion, fracking, or deforestation. BlackRock says it “may” vote for climate-friendly shareholder proposals, and it “may” vote against company board […]
BlackRock sends a number of mixed signals with today’s memo. On the one hand, it communicates an important and necessary message about the need for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions, writing that companies “should strive to limit warming to 1.5° C to achieve an ultimate goal of net zero GHG emissions by mid-century in order […]
On January 26, Larry Fink released his annual letter to CEOs alongside a letter to clients signed by BlackRock’s Global Executive Team. Similar to last year, both letters are dedicated to BlackRock’s plans to address the urgent, systemic climate crisis and its plan for operating within our changing world. Some of the key things BlackRock […]
UPDATE: Watch the full action webinar here. Studies have shown that Indigenous peoples are critical players in the fight to protect the world’s forests and halt global temperature increases. In 2020 BlackRock hinted it would take new holistic approaches on deforestation and biodiversity in 2021, and yet, its newly announced net zero commitments failed to […]
350.org co-founder and long time supporter of our work targeting the funders of the climate crisis Bill McKibben compared BlackRock to a major league baseball player who was recently voted M.V.P., but in truth it’s batting average is barely above bush league. To continue the baseball analogy, BlackRock finally stepped up to the climate plate […]
In the middle of the night on Dec. 10th, BlackRock published a new report outlining its guiding expectations for company engagement in 2021. The announcement, similar to most news from BlackRock, has gained some attention across financial media, including from the Financial Times, Bloomberg, and Reuters. We dug into the details to pull out what […]