BlackRock is the world’s largest investment company. It manages $7 trillion in assets. BlackRock’s CEO sent a letter yesterday to CEOs of companies in BlackRock’s investment portfolio. It announced that going forward, BlackRock will consider sustainability and especially climate risk as it makes investments. It will be selling off assets such as coal that contribute to climate change, and screening for fossil fuels in future investment products. It will also incorporate climate risk in investment strategy: risk from storms, risk from floods, risk from inflation if food gets more expensive, risk of taxes or carbon fees, etc. They are doing this for financial reasons, because it has a compelling effect on investments.
This is really BIG news, and really welcome.
Read the letter from BlackRock’s CEO: https://www.blackrock.com/us/financial-professionals/larry-fink-ceo-letter
There is also a very interesting interview with Blackrock’s head of international and corporate strategies on Marketplace Morning Report. He describes the financial reasons they are doing it, and all the kinds of risks that climate change will bring to finance and investing. It starts at 4:05 in the podcast and goes for 3 minutes: https://www.marketplace.org/shows/marketplace-morning-report/blackrock-sustainability-risk/
