Apologies, the link I sent was copyrighted. Here is the article anyway:
BlackRock’s Larry Fink backs oil and gas
Larry Fink, the head of BlackRock, the world’s largest funds manager with $US10 trillion in assets under management, wants to help oil and gas firms make the transition to a net zero emissions economy.
Jan 18, 2022 – 6.47pm
Two years after taking a rigid divestment stance against thermal coal, BlackRock chairman and chief executive Larry Fink is backing the oil and gas industry as the world transitions to net zero carbon emissions.
In his annual letter to the CEOs of companies partly owned by the world’s biggest fund manager, Fink said the world needs to pass through “shades of brown to shades of green”.
BlackRock is a major investor in the world’s largest oil and gas stocks because of the $US6.6 trillion ($9.15 trillion) of assets under management in index and exchange-traded funds.
It owns 6 per cent of Woodside and 6 per cent of Santos. It also owns 6 per cent of each of the country’s two largest coal-fired power generators, Origin Energy and AGL Energy.
Fink says that “to ensure continuity of affordable energy supplies during the transition, traditional fossil fuels like natural gas will play an important role both for power generation and heating in certain regions, as well as for the production of hydrogen”.
“Divesting from entire sectors – or simply passing carbon-intensive assets from public markets to private markets – will not get the world to net zero.
“And BlackRock does not pursue divestment from oil and gas companies as a policy. We do have some clients who choose to divest their assets, while other clients reject that approach.
“Foresighted companies across a wide range of carbon-intensive sectors are transforming their businesses, and their actions are a critical part of decarbonisation. Investment opportunity
“We believe the companies leading the transition present a vital investment opportunity for our clients, and driving capital towards these phoenixes will be essential to achieving a net zero world.”
BlackRock has benefited enormously from positioning itself as a global manager of “sustainable investments”. In the year to December, its assets under management in sustainable investment strategies doubled to more than $US500 billion.
Fink says companies cannot be “climate police” and that means governments need to “provide clear pathways and a consistent taxonomy for sustainability policy, regulation, and disclosure across markets”.
“They must also support communities affected by the transition, help catalyse capital for the emerging markets, and invest in the innovation and technology that will be essential to decarbonising the global economy.”
Stakeholder capitalism is not about politics. It is not a social or ideological agenda. It is not ‘woke’.
— Larry Fink
The apparent softening in BlackRock’s opposition to fossil fuels comes two years after BlackRock’s executive committee, which has been headed by Fink for more than 30 years, dumped coal from actively managed portfolios “to minimise risk and maximise long-term returns”.
BlackRock said in January 2020 that any company that generated more than 25 per cent of its revenue from thermal coal production would be removed from discretionary, active investment portfolios by June 2020.
In addition, BlackRock’s alternatives business was stopped from making any future direct investments in companies that generated more than 25 per cent of their revenues from thermal coal production.
Fink’s 2022 letter to CEOs also includes a staunch defence of “stakeholder capitalism”.
“Stakeholder capitalism is not about politics. It is not a social or ideological agenda. It is not ‘woke’.
“It is capitalism, driven by mutually beneficial relationships between you and the employees, customers, suppliers, and communities your company relies on to prosper. This is the power of capitalism.” Pursuit of profit
Fink says the pursuit of profit “is still what animates markets; and long-term profitability is the measure by which markets will ultimately determine your company’s success”.
BlackRock’s Australian head, Andrew Landman, says BlackRock is strengthening its approach to sustainable investing by using its voting power to hold companies accountable for climate change risk.A
(20min delay)