Today, BlackRock released CEO Larry Fink’s annual chairman letter, for the first time addressing shareholders, clients, CEOs, investee companies, and other stakeholders in one statement. Partners within the BlackRock’s Big Problem network, a coalition of environmental, investor, and grassroots advocacy organizations, issued the following statements: Moira Birss – Climate Finance Director, Amazon Watch: “Fink […]
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 […]
In the letter, the scientists urge Hildebrand to help align BlackRock’s business with a 1.5°C pathway. “As scientists and academics, we are writing this letter to tell you directly that the facts are clear: new coal, oil, and gas development is incompatible with limiting warming to 1.5°C,” the letter reads. BlackRock recently argued that investments in increased fossil […]
New York, May 10th, 2022 Today, BlackRock Investment Stewardship (BIS) released a new memo detailing the asset manager’s approach to voting on shareholder proposals during the 2022 proxy season. In the report, BIS outlines that it is not likely to support resolutions that ask companies to make changes to their business model. This AGM season, […]
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 […]
New York, April 14th, 2022 – Today, BlackRock announced that by 2030, at least 75% of its corporate and sovereign assets managed on behalf of clients will be invested in issuers with science-based targets or equivalent. Coming from the world’s largest institutional investor, this commitment could potentially have significant influence on lowering global emissions. The […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
“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 […]
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 […]
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 […]