We have yet to see how BlackRock will use its considerable shareholder power to compel the world’s biggest carbon-emitting companies to align with science-based climate targets, including voting for climate resolutions and acting against boards that aren’t making sufficient climate progress.
BlackRock has a watchlist of companies that are failing on climate, but its engagement and voting practices have yet to significantly reduce emissions – and BlackRock is not moving fast enough.
BlackRock’s engagement strategy needs to shift from disclosure to decarbonization. BlackRock must flex its muscle to encourage and accelerate climate action from the companies it backs.
BlackRock must be transparent about how it votes, which sectors and companies are priorities on its watchlist, timelines for engagement, and the consequences of insufficient climate action from its portfolio companies.
Working collaboratively, BlackRock could use its influence to organize with other financial firms and make real progress on the systemic problems of climate change.
Answers to common questions about how BlackRock and the finance industry fuel climate change and environmental destruction.
But Larry Fink and the financial industry must recognize that small steps and talk are not enough. Our future depends on bold, decisive action. Asset managers have the power to make immediate changes – and the responsibility to implement these feasible solutions.