Post by bonnasuttadhar225588 on Feb 15, 2024 7:05:04 GMT -5
The official responsible for the NY public pension funds pressures Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock—an American investment management company whose headquarters are in New York and which is considered the largest in the world in asset management—to to recommit to achieving net zero emissions across its entire investment portfolio, according to the FNLondon portal . Larry Fink's pressure In a Sept. 21 letter to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, New York City Comptroller Brad Lander said the asset manager's voting record in the 2022 proxy season and recent public statements Concerned that BlackRock is backtracking on its climate commitments, NY puts pressure on Larry Fink. Larry Fink's pressure Lander's letter follows an early August missive from 19 state attorneys general that accused BlackRock of actively pressuring companies to phase out fossil fuels to the detriment of local economies that rely heavily on the energy industry. BlackRock, in response, said it does not dictate emissions targets for the companies in which it invests. The company cited its $100 billion worth of investments in Texas energy companies as proof that it is not boycotting fossil fuels.
BlackRock now abdicates responsibility for driving net-zero alignment in its own portfolio by saying it is not asking companies to set specific targets. Lander, official responsible for the public pension funds of the city of New York. Notably, BlackRock manages about $43 billion in investments for three New York City pension funds. BlackRock declined to comment. In its response to the Namibia Email List August letter, the company said it has a fiduciary obligation to “identify short- and long-term trends in the global economy that may affect our clients' investments.” The weight of BlackRock BlackRock is the world's largest investor, with around $8.5 trillion in assets under management. It holds stakes in more than 14,000 companies worldwide and votes on proxy proposals on behalf of passive investors. For years, the company has walked a political tightrope over its stance on climate issues. “Climate risk is investment risk,” Fink wrote in his 2020 annual letter.
That comment, and others like it, rankled oil and gas industry executives and officials in the states they call home. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar last month included BlackRock on a list of 10 financial firms that the state has labeled as hostile to energy companies, a move that could lead state entities to stop doing business with the asset manager. “We disagree with the comptroller's opinion,” a BlackRock spokesperson said at the time. Now, BlackRock faces pushback from officials on the other side of the debate. Lander, the New York City comptroller, asked BlackRock to release plans detailing the asset manager's commitment to achieving net zero. He also called on BlackRock to pressure its portfolio companies to disclose climate-related lobbying and work to end lending and insurance for new fossil fuel supply projects. He criticized BlackRock's decision to support fewer climate-related shareholder proposals in the 2022 proxy voting season. BlackRock voted in favor of 24% of environmental and social shareholder proposals in this proxy voting season. year, compared to 43% last year. The firm said the decline was partly due to a series of "more prescriptive" shareholder proposals. “The fundamental contradiction between BlackRock's statements and actions is alarming,” Lander wrote. “BlackRock cannot simultaneously declare that climate risk is a systemic financial risk and argue that BlackRock has no role in mitigating the risks that climate change poses to its investments by supporting decarbonization in the real economy.