As a new report reveals (pdf) that asset management behemoth BlackRock is continuing to finance “the destruction of our planet”—and the Trump administration pushes that path at the United Nations climate talks—hundreds of global investors holding $32 trillion in assets called for world leaders to commit to greater action to address the climate crisis.
“The global shift to clean energy is underway, but much more needs to be done by governments to accelerate the low carbon transition and to improve the resilience of our economy, society, and the financial system to climate risks,” a statement signed by 415 investors declared Monday as the COP24 climate summit was underway.
The signers, including HSBC Global Asset Management, the New York State Comptroller, and Seattle City Employees’ Retirement System, warned of the potentially catastrophic “ambition gap” between the Paris climate accord goal of limiting warming to below 2˚ Celsius and what countries have committed to doing.
“Indeed,” an accompanying briefing paper adds, “the full implementation of current Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) would lead to an unacceptably high temperature increase potentially in the range of 2.9 to 3.4 °C relative to pre-industrial levels. This is of great concern for investors, as global warming at that scale would have large and detrimental impacts on global economies, society, and investment portfolios, now and into the future. Policy makers need to close this gap urgently.”
SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT