BlackRock singled out for not attending UN PRI conference
The comments were made at panel session on the final day of the in-person event in Barcelona.
Catherine Howarth, CEO of ShareAction, called out BlackRock on stage at the UN PRI in-person Barcelona conference for sending no attendees to the event, a comment that prompted applause from the audience.
Speaking at a panel session on asset owner expectations, Howarth said: “I note with great interest that BlackRock, the largest fund manager in the world, is not at this amazing conference. Why not? Because they seem to have been frightened off a little bit by this ESG backlash, which is coming out of a relatively small number of states in the United States.
“This creates a really interesting question for asset owners, because what we are seeing is a retreat.”
ShareAction is a charity group that promotes responsible investment. It has previously called on BlackRock to close the gap between rhetoric and action on climate proposals.
Howarth had speculated that BlackRock’s non-attendance in Barcelona was connected to news this week that the state of Florida would withdraw $2bn of assets from BlackRock due to the asset manager’s previously stated support for ESG and climate-conscious decisions. Florida’s divestment followed similar moves by the states of Louisiana and Missouri.
In response, a spokesperson for BlackRock said that the asset manager’s focus on climate-related issues and the risk and opportunities presented by the energy transition had not changed.
“We continue to believe that investors and companies that take a forward-looking position with respect to climate risk and the energy transition will generate better long-term financial outcomes.
"Our executives attend many events throughout the year on topics that are important to our clients. However, as an asset manager, we do not benchmark our success against attendance at events, but rather against how we serve our clients with the range of investment strategies, data and analytics, and research that we offer to meet their investment goals.”
[BlackRock’s failure to attend] creates a really interesting question for asset owners, because what we are seeing is a retreat.
Greater data collection in ESG
Also during the panel, Emmanuel Faber, chair of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), detailed how the organisation is to convene in Montreal for the final board meeting of the year, and will be looking to combine economic value creation to the notion of sustainability.
Using a conceptual framework adapted from the Integrated Reporting Framework, the ISSB will look to establish standards that show a company is succeeding in the long term in a sustainable manner. It will also seek to show that these firms are able to manage the cycles of financial capital with environmental concerns and human capital, and ensure that each of these cycles and capitals are protected and developed.
“it's quite obvious now that we don't count everything that counts. We don't count the long term as we should probably do. We don't count resilience as we should probably do,” Faber said.
“Human capital and talent are counted as a cost and not as an investment or an asset, while areas such as degradation of soil are not appreciated. When there is no soil anymore and you cannot farm, right now there is no accounting trace of that loss of value.”
Also speaking on the final day of the conference was Tony Goldner, executive director for the Taskforce on Nature-Related Financial Disclosures (TNFD), who spoke of nature and biodiversity as “the next big initiatives and themes” in responsible investment.
“The reality is we simply won't get to net zero without nature, and tackling nature loss must be front and centre in concerns on any transition plans,” said Goldner.
The conference concluded with confirmation that the 2023 UN PRI In Person event is to be held in Tokyo, Japan.
