Marshall, TX – Today, Dalia Blass, BlackRock’s head of external affairs, testified on BlackRock’s investing practices at a hearing held by the Texas Senate Committee on State Affairs. Republicans had subpoenaed BlackRock, Vanguard, StateStreet, and ISS to interrogate their position on climate. However, news broke yesterday that Vanguard was not going to be present at […]
Today, in an open letter to Vanguard CEO Tim Buckley, over 100 organizations representing more than 6 million people called on the world’s second-largest asset manager to enact the visionary financial leadership that is needed to meet the scale and urgency of the climate crisis. The letter comes with the launch of Vanguard S.O.S., an […]
In his public rhetoric, CEO Larry Fink presents BlackRock as a company committed to a goal of lowering global emissions. In reality, the investor just handed billions to a corporation that was the world’s leading upstream oil & gas producer in 2020 and that – according to the newly released Global Oil & Gas Exit […]
The announcement, originally reported by Responsible Investor, included an inspiring climate commitment (along with some cheeky “Vanguardians of the Glaxay”) that by 2030, Vanguard would offer its clients fossil-free and deforestation-free investment options by default. This is what we call the North Star of asset manager climate commitments. Sadly, not long after it was posted, […]
To truly achieve ambitious and necessary climate action and make good on its climate commitments, BlackRock leadership needs to lean on its staff that understand the scope and urgency of the climate crisis and are advocating for change to match that urgency. The coming months will be a test of how willing BlackRock is to […]
Today, BlackRock released its 2020-2021 stewardship report. The report details BlackRock’s engagement and proxy voting record during Sandy Boss’s first year as Global Head of Investment Stewardship. In response, members of the BlackRock’s Big Problem network issued the following statements: Casey Harrell, Senior Strategist with the Sunrise Project: “It’s clear that change is happening […]
Crosspost from Pendle Marshall-Hallmark of Amazon Watch Earlier this month, Amazon Watch released our Investing in Amazon Crude II report on three of the world’s largest asset managers – BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street – that are propping up the destructive oil industry in the Amazon. Now we’re launching a new step in our campaign that involves […]
Tokyo – Today, BlackRock was noticeably silent after 23% of shareholders issued a major climate warning to Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) by voting in favor of a resolution filed by Kiko Network and three individual shareholders affiliated with Market Forces, Rainforest Action Network, and 350.org Japan (“co-filers”). The resolution called on the bank to […]
A wide range of climate activists and green investors celebrated the news Wednesday afternoon that shareholders revolted against management to elect *at least* two outsider candidates to the board of ExxonMobil (votes for two additional seats are still being counted as of this release). The new members are from the Engine No. 1 slate, which […]
As exclusive Reuters reporting details how BlackRock plans to vote at tomorrow’s ExxonMobil Annual General Meeting, activists from coast to coast spent the afternoon demonstrating outside of BlackRock’s offices, calling out its addictions to fossil fuels and pushing the giant asset manager to reverse course on climate change. Reuters’ Svea Herbst-Bayliss reports that BlackRock is […]
This morning, Royal Dutch Shell (commonly known as Shell) shareholders voted on competing climate action resolutions — one an inadequate and misleading management-backed measure that would not achieve its stated goals (Resolution 20), and one brought about by the green shareholders group Follow This, which would have the company set and publish targets that are […]
This morning, the oil giant BP (formerly known as British Petroleum) held its annual general meeting (AGM), and shareholders voted on a climate action resolution brought about by the green shareholders group Follow This. The resolution, which would have the company set and publish targets that are consistent with the goals of the Paris Climate […]
“As it stands, BlackRock already failed the first major test of this proxy season when it voted in support of the chairman of Wells Fargo, the world’s top banker of fracking,” said Ben Cushing, financial advocacy campaign manager at the Sierra Club. “Now it has failed the second test at Barclays. While BlackRock is making […]
In response to Paul Bodnar being named the new Global Head of Sustainable Investing at BlackRock, Casey Harrell, Senior Strategist of The Sunrise Project, issued the following statement on behalf of the BlackRock’s Big Problem network: “It is an encouraging sign that BlackRock would hire someone of Paul’s caliber to lead the company’s implementation of […]
After the announcement that BlackRock and Vanguard have signed onto the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative, Casey Harrell, Senior Strategist with the Sunrise Project and key partner in the BlackRock’s Big Problem Network, said: “It is an important milestone that BlackRock and Vanguard have been moved to commit to reach net zero emissions by 2050 […]
Today, BlackRock released a memo on its approach to engagement on “natural capital” as well as an updated memo on its 2021 stewardship priorities. The new commentary marked the first time any of the big three asset managers – BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street – acknowledged the interconnectedness of climate change, ecosystem protection, and Indigenous […]
Today, BlackRock released CEO Larry Fink’s annual letter to CEOs as well as a letter to its clients. The letters spelled out the next steps the world’s largest asset manager will be taking to address the climate crisis. With close to $9 trillion in assets under management, BlackRock has expansive power and responsibility to push […]
Commentary by Pete Sikora, Climate & Inequality Campaigns Director at our partner New York Communities for Change On January 12, BlackRock announced it would pause campaign donations to all politicians while it conducts a “thorough review of the events” and considers how it will make future contributions. Never mind that those “events” were a violent […]
On January 14th, 2020 BlackRock and its CEO Larry Fink made a series of declarations on climate change and its potential impact on our global economy and the finance sector. Fink’s 2020 letters to CEOs and BlackRock’s own shareholders were filled with all the right language alongside a few exciting, if initial, steps that BlackRock […]
The scientific consensus is that the threat of catastrophic climate change requires bold and immediate action to reduce emissions across the planet. Major asset managers like BlackRock have a key role to play. Their immense power as shareholders and managers of vast capital influences how companies emit and wean themselves from fossil fuels. While […]