BlackRock is the largest asset manager in the world and has embraced Trump’s fossil fuel agenda. BlackRock has scaled back its own climate ambitions, lobbied against climate policy and has withdrawn from an important climate partnership.
Pension funds are uncomfortable with BlackRock’s backtracking. Some are taking action. PFZW, for example, has parted ways with BlackRock and opted for asset managers who take the climate crisis as seriously as the fund itself. PME gave BlackRock a final warning, as did pension funds in Scandinavia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
But ABP, one of Europe’s largest pension funds, is still remaining silent. The pension participants who took part in our letter-writing campaign received a rather vague response: ABP ensures that the objectives for sustainable and responsible investment are achieved and regularly evaluates its cooperation with asset managers. But there is also something hopeful: if it turns out that a particular asset manager is no longer suitable for ABP, the fund could look for another party.
So, a break-up between ABP and BlackRock is possible. And it makes perfect sense: given that ABP wants to work towards a liveable world and achieving climate targets, why would you strengthen a powerful party that undermines that very goal?
To push ABP in the right direction, we are launching a petition today with the following demands:
- Exclude BlackRock and similar asset managers such as State Street and Vanguard from cooperation;
- Switch to asset managers that act in accordance with the Paris Climate Agreement and do not contribute to human rights violations;
- Be transparent about which asset managers you collaborate with, for what amount and for which product.
The petition is supported by Het Woonprotest, Transnational Institute, Actionaid, SOMO, and other organisations. View the full list of organisations supporting the petition here.
Sign the petition
Sign the petition and call on ABP chairman Harmen van Wijnen to break ties with BlackRock.