BlackRock is, despite their pledges of sustainability, one of the biggest investors of climate devastation: they invest €400 billion in the fossil industry. They continuously block climate resolutions at shareholders meetings and recently withdrew from a climate alliance in which asset managers collaborate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (after which the entire alliance was lifted). Moreover, research has shown that BlackRock has invested billions in companies involved in deforestation, human rights abuses and controversial weapons. So to conclude: they play a key role in financing the climate crisis and other suffering.
By working together with BlackRock, pension funds are strengthening the power of one of the biggest climate polluters. In doing so, they’re not just risking the planet, but also our pension money: a world ravaged by climate disasters will hit the economy badly. This puts pension assets at risk.
International attention
Our campaign has already gained mainstream media attention, especially after PME – one of the largest Dutch pension funds – announced it might sever ties with BlackRock due to its poor climate track record. So far, over 2400 people have sent letters to at least 12 different Dutch pension funds, urging them to break with BlackRock and switch to more responsible asset managers.
We are also seeing pension funds in other countries, such as Sweden, Denmark, the UK, speaking out against and departing from big American asset managers, which is a crucial development. It is vital that powerful American asset managers realize they will lose major clients if they abandon climate targets. Instead of strengthening reckless financial giants that prioritize short-term profits, pension funds must support asset managers that take the climate crisis seriously, ensuring the safety of our pension money and future.
How to rock this?
Together with pension participants, we are pressuring pension funds to break with BlackRock. We are also demanding transparency about which asset managers handle our pension funds and pushing for stricter sustainability criteria for external asset managers. We are showing that better alternatives exist – ones that genuinely prioritize sustainability, not just in words but in action.
What can you do?
- Send a letter to your own pension fund and ask them to cut ties with BlackRock. We’ve prepared a letter for you that you can send in just one minute using our online tool.
- Our expert and campaigner, Hiske Arts, is the one to talk to. You can email her at hiske@fossielvrij.nl, to learn more about everything you can do with BlackRock.