BlackRock takes small step towards climate action
In joining Climate Action 100+, world’s largest asset manager looks to green its climate impactWASHINGTON – BlackRock Inc. (BLK), the world’s largest investor in both fossil fuels and deforestation-linked commodities, today announced it will join Climate Action 100+, a consortium of investors committed to driving a transition to clean energy.
In response to the company’s announcement, Jeff Conant, senior international forests program manager at Friends of the Earth U.S., issued the following statement:
In a world on fire, BlackRock has begun to feel the heat. In joining the Climate Action 100+, BlackRock is acknowledging that the company has a big problem and needs help to address it. But it in no way signals that BlackRock has agreed to move its money out of the worst actors in the fossil fuel industry, or that it is taking any meaningful action on deforestation.
While the Climate Action 100+ is a positive initiative, it gives no attention to global deforestation, the second leading driver of the climate crisis – and a key area in which BlackRock has a tremendous footprint. Friends of the Earth will continue to pressure BlackRock to deal with its role in igniting the fires that have devastated forests around the world.
Expert contact: Jeff Conant, (510) 900-0016, [email protected]
Communications contact: Patrick Davis, (202) 222-0744, [email protected]