Despite "Fawning Praise", BlackRock Voted In Favor Of 1 Out Of 10 Climate Resolutions 8/19 - 8/20

[hatrack]

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Just over a year ago, Fink wrote in his annual letter to the chief executives of the world’s largest companies that “we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance,” due to the risks posed by climate change. Fink said that BlackRock had “announced a number of initiatives to place sustainability at the center of our investment approach.”

New York Times DealBook editor Andrew Ross Sorkin wrote at the time that the move “could reshape how corporate America does business and put pressure on other large money managers to follow suit,” adding that Fink’s “intent is to encourage every company, not just energy firms, to rethink their carbon footprints.” Sorkin called the move a “watershed.” But while Fink typically receives fawning praise in the business press, BlackRock’s actions over the past year suggest that his letter was a simple greenwash — a tried and true practice corporations use to generate praise for speaking about sustainability as they continue to invest in high emitting companies.

Between August 2019 and August 2020, BlackRock voted in favor of one of ten shareholder resolutions that would have required companies to take action on climate change, whether through disclosure of climate risk, emissions reduction targets, or other actions, according to a study by ShareAction, a responsible investment organization. Among the largest asset managers, BlackRock voted in favor of the fewest climate resolutions.

The outcome wasn’t just symbolic: Of the 102 resolutions that came before BlackRock in that time frame regarding climate, only fifteen of them passed. With BlackRock’s support, more than twice that number would have passed, according to the ShareAction study. Despite this record, Fink issued a new CEO letter this month, once again casting BlackRock as an environmental leader. He asserted that the pandemic “has driven us to confront the global threat of climate change more forcefully and to consider how, like the pandemic, it will alter our lives.” He added that BlackRock was committing to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and asked companies to disclose their own plans to reach net-zero emissions as well.

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https://www.jacobinmag.com/2021/01/blackrock-larry-fink-climate-change

[nam78_two]

1. Depressing but fairly unsurprising from these types.nt