Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink is getting serious about climate change.
“Last September, when millions of people took to the streets to demand action on climate change, many of them emphasized the significant and lasting impact that it will have on economic growth and prosperity – a risk that markets to date have been slower to reflect,” he declared in a letter to CEOs on January 14.
“But awareness is rapidly changing, and I believe we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance.”
That reshaping will result in a profound reassessment of risk and asset values, Fink said.
“Because capital markets pull future risk forward, we will see changes in capital allocation more quickly than we see changes to the climate itself. In the near future – and sooner than most anticipate – there will be a significant reallocation of capital.
“Every government, company, and shareholder must confront climate change,” he thundered.
BlackRock has long attracted criticism for seemingly doing the exact reverse.
Source: Majority Action; Morningstar
According to a research paper published in September that draws on Morningstar data, BlackRock and Vanguard are among the asset managers least likely to support critical climate-related shareholder resolutions when they arise.