Stockholm (NordSIP) – BlackRock has become the latest asset manager to join the Climate Action 100+ initiative, a global investor initiative that engages the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters to take action on climate change.
BlackRock’s decision follows recent efforts by the asset manager to address concerns about its lack of leadership in tackling climate change and other ESG issues.
“BlackRock is one of the largest and most influential asset managers in the world and will bring even more heft to investor engagement through Climate Action 100+,” said Emily Chew current Climate Action 100+ Steering Committee Chair and Global Head of ESG Research and Integration at Manulife Investment Management. “We look forward to working with BlackRock to build on the initiative’s success and work to ensure companies take the urgent and necessary action needed in response to the climate crisis.”
BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager, with more than US$6.8 trillion and joins more than 370 global investors already participating in the initiative. This latest addition brings total AUM represented by the membership of the Climate Action 100+ initiative to more than $41 trillion.
Climate Action 100+ engages with 161 companies, including 100 ‘systemically important emitters’, accounting for two-thirds of annual global industrial greenhouse emissions as well as 61 others with significant opportunity to drive the clean energy transition.
“In joining Climate Action 100+, BlackRock is responding to the demands of its asset owner clients and other groups globally that they take meaningful action to address climate change,” said Fiona Reynolds member of the Climate Action 100+ Steering Committee and CEO, Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI). “We welcome this recognition and look forward to BlackRock’s involvement in the largest ever investor engagement initiative designed to ensure that the largest emitters in the world act in accordance with the Paris Agreement to keep the world to 1.5 degrees of emissions.”
Beyond reducing GHG emissions, signatories also commit to implementing a strong governance framework that clearly articulates the board’s accountability and oversight of climate change risks and opportunities. Moreover, members of the Climate Action 100+ initiative also commit to providing enhanced corporate disclosures in line with the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
“Climate change poses a systemic risk for investors, along with opportunities for industries to develop innovative solutions,” said Anne Simpson, member of the Climate Action 100+ Steering Committee and Director of Board Governance and Strategy at CalPERS. “This is why we initiated the creation of Climate Action 100+, which is focused on engaging with companies to lower their carbon emissions and come into alignment with the goals set out in the Paris Agreement. CalPERS welcomes BlackRock as the newest signatory to Climate Action 100+. We look forward to the insights and expertise they bring to this important mission. We, along with the signatories of Climate Action 100+, will continue to work with the largest global emitters of greenhouse gases to limit global warming and protect our members’ assets to ensure we can pay benefits.”
“With the world’s largest asset manager now joining Climate Action 100+, company boards should be under no illusion of the need to take action on climate change and reduce their emissions,” adds Stephanie Pfeifer, member of the Climate Action 100+ Steering Committee and CEO, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC). “BlackRock joins over 370 other investors already involved in the initiative putting pressure on companies to commit to a net zero future and address climate risks.”
