Friends of the Earth applauds institutional investors’ call to protect the Amazon rainforest, urges Blackrock and others to join
Blackrock, the world’s largest investor in the climate crisis, notably silent on financial ties to Amazon rainforest destructionWASHINGTON – Last week, 230 institutional investors from 30 countries released a joint statement calling for urgent action to protect the Amazon rainforest. The investors, with a combined $16.2 trillion USD under management, state that growing deforestation of the Amazon causes serious financial risks to companies and their investors, and ask their investee companies to step up efforts to eradicate deforestation from their operations and supply chains. Blackrock and other large equity investors were notably absent from the letter.
Jeff Conant, Senior International Forests Program Manager with Friends of the Earth released the following statement in response:
It is essential that investors take action to end deforestation, land grabbing and biodiversity loss in the Amazon, Indonesia and around the world. We are pleased to see over 200 investors voice concern, and we look forward to seeing how these very laudable words are turned into concrete action.
Unfortunately, the world’s largest equity investors, including BlackRock, Vanguard, Fidelity, State Street and Dimensional Fund Advisors are distinctly absent from the list of firms urging action, despite being among the largest financiers of the problem.
This week’s United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York provides an ideal platform for Wall Street’s biggest institutions to take credible action for the world’s forests. Failing to act would send a clear signal that these investment firms are incapable of calculating the risks of inaction, and continue to put short-term profit over our long-term planetary future.
Contact: Erin Jensen, (202) 222-0722, [email protected]