In 2019, BlackRock and Vanguard, the world’s largest asset managers used their shareholder power to undermine global investor efforts that would have pushed large fossil fuel and utility companies to take concrete action on climate change, according to a new report by Majority Action. Key energy and utility companies in the U.S. lag far behind […]
Today, in response to the findings of a new report by Majority Action, people with New York Communities for Change (NYCC), Mothers Out Front (MOF), Sunrise Movement NYC, Sierra Club, 350Brooklyn, Extinction Rebelion-MA, and Mass Divest gathered outside BlackRock offices in New York City and Boston. The report, which assesses major asset managers’ 2019 shareholder […]
Within only 2 weeks, an amazing 59 actions happened all over the world to protect the Amazon rainforest and its Indigenous peoples yesterday. The organizers including our partners at Amazon Watch encouraged actions at Brazilian embassies or the corporate offices of the biggest companies driving or funding destructive practices there. BlackRock is at the top […]
BlackRock’s Big Deforestation Problem, released by Friends of the Earth U.S., Amazon Watch, and Profundo, a Dutch financial research firm, tracked financial data between 2014 and 2018 to show that BlackRock is among the top three shareholders in 25 of the world’s largest publicly listed “deforestation-risk” companies – companies active in producing and trading soy, […]
“We may be witnessing the tragedy of our lifetimes with the Amazon rainforest in flames and in peril.”, our partners at Amazon Watch wrote this week. While Brazil’s far right President Bolsonaro ludicrously blamed NGO’s for starting the 80,000+ fires burning this week, he’s made his five pronged agenda to destroy the Amazon very clear: […]
Earlier this month, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis released a new report slamming BlackRock’s high exposure to fossil fuels in its investment products. Among other key findings, the report concludes that BlackRock’s failure to adequately address fossil fuel sector under-performance has lost investors over US$90 billion in estimated value destruction and opportunity […]
Yesterday two of the country’s fastest growing grassroots groups – Extinction Rebellion and Mothers Out Front – sent a bold message to BlackRock staff at one of their main US offices. The Boston “die-in” was organized to, in the words of one local organizer, “set up a crime scene because ecocide is criminal”. The organizers […]
There’s a new detailed report out today from analysts at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) and it’s a doozy. The report shows that BlackRock continues to ignore the serious financial risks of putting money into fossil fuel-dependent companies. Why this is important: Given that BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager, […]
Big news out of Europe last week, with another of the world’s major backers of fossil fuels making the commitment to divest from the sector on climate grounds, soon. The government-backed European Investment Bank (EIB) – the world’s largest multilateral lender – just released a draft policy that would see the bank stop funding fossils […]
Washington, DC — This afternoon, the Investor Protection, Entrepreneurship and Capital Markets Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee will hold a hearing entitled “Building a Sustainable and Competitive Economy: An Examination of Proposals to Improve Environmental, Social and Governance Disclosures.” The hearing will address the need for publicly traded companies to report their business’ […]
This article originally published on Medium. BlackRock, the $6.5 trillion Wall Street asset manager, has quietly released a statement on the company’s approach to engagement in the palm oil sector — an industry notorious for its role in destroying the planet’s last forests. Given the role of the palm oil industry in driving species to […]
Larry Fink’s response to criticism at his annual shareholder meeting last month proved one thing: BlackRock’s senior leadership knows about our campaign, is upset, yet is choosing to ignore, deflect, and dismiss our criticisms. Last month’s BlackRock shareholder meeting in New York was a gong show. The previous year saw a sleepy affair with fewer […]
New York City – Today, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink faced criticism from community leaders, researchers, and legal experts at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM). During the meeting speakers from the Amazon and the U.S. called out Fink for the fact that his rhetoric on climate change does not match BlackRock’s actions, while others from […]
Today we released a new mini-report on BlackRock’s sustainable ESG funds. See the full report here. BlackRock is the largest asset manager in the world, with $6.5 trillion under management. Increasingly, BlackRock bills itself as a leader in responsible investing. “Sustainability,” BlackRock says,“is something investors can no longer afford to ignore.” Yet the financial giant […]
The petition calls on BlackRock, Vanguard and Fidelity to use their immense voting power responsibly by supporting key climate-related shareholder resolutions and voting against directors who are not serving long-term investors’ best interests at nine major upcoming shareholder meetings. Photos from the petition delivery are available here. The groups, many of which are part of […]
BlackRock is the largest asset manager in the world, with about $6.5 trillion in assets under management as of the end of March 2019. As of 2016, BlackRock owned more than 5 percent of over 2,600 companies and over 10 percent of 375 companies. BlackRock talks a good game. CEO Larry Fink claims that he […]
You can read more about this story in the San Francisco Chronicle. Alfred Brownell, a Liberian human rights lawyer and recipient of the 2019 Goldman Environmental Prize for Africa, and a group of environmental activists protested at the San Francisco headquarters of global asset manager BlackRock this morning. With music and theatrics, including a dozen […]