BlackRock Is Profiting Off the Climate Crisis
For companies like BlackRock, the climate crisis is a valuable investment opportunity. They've positioned themselves to make money no matter how — or whether — governments address climate change.
BlackRock chair and CEO Larry Fink attends a session at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos in 2020. (FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images)
In his 2020 letter to CEOs, Larry Fink, the chairman and CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, proclaimed that “climate risk is investment risk.” A more accurate read, however, is that for companies like BlackRock, climate risk is proving to be a valuable investment opportunity.
Today banks, investors, and asset managers have positioned themselves to make money no matter how — or whether — countries finally take meaningful steps to stop climate change. In fact, for some of the world’s largest, most powerful, and most globally integrated companies, the climate crisis is a win-win-win situation.
If governments take little or no action, these companies will win simply by continuing to do what they already do. Companies will invest in green industries and technologies, and they’ll sell “environmental, social, and governance,” or ESG, investment products to those who want to feel better about how their money makes money. But these firms will also continue to invest in oil, gas, and coal, and offer investment services that embrace dirty industries.
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