Larry Fink Takes Off His Mask

BlackRock's decision to drop out of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative—a voluntary global group committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050—should come as no surprise. Larry Fink, the company's CEO, has long preached the virtues of corporate social responsibility, issuing annual calls for executives and investors to embrace stakeholder capitalism. He touts environmental stewardship and climate action not just as moral imperatives but as sound investment strategies. Yet, BlackRock continues to maintain a large portfolio in fossil fuels. This glaring double standard is hardly unique to BlackRock. The same can be said for the six major banks that exited the Net-Zero Banking Alliance shortly after Donald Trump's election. For years, corporate leaders and investors have paid lip service to sustainable business practices while prioritizing regulations, cyber risks, and other concerns over the environment and social issues like income inequality.

The truth is, there was never any rational reason to believe that CEOs or investors truly cared about the planet or the future of its people. Employees may want to work for companies that protect the environment and support their communities. Citizens across the globe, including majorities in the U.S., are committed to a sustainable planet and willing to make sacrifices for it. But the vast majority of company stocks are owned by the wealthiest 1%, the same elite class whose CEOs earn more than 300 times what their average workers make. These individuals, whose extravagant lifestyles drive global warming and environmental destruction, belong to a different world entirely.

It’s been impossible to convince this group of elites to stop their golf games long enough to recognize a few basic facts that don’t even require a moral argument.

First, no business can exist without nature. Over 55% of global GDP is directly tied to nature, and large economies, U.S., EU, and China, are most dependent on it. Second, a sustainable planet can benefit business in the long-term. Achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which most corporations and governments have endorsed, requires up to $7 trillion in annual investments. However, businesses stand to gain at least $12 trillion annually by adopting sustainable practices in just four SDG areas, creating up to 380 million jobs: $4.3 trillion in energy, $3.7 trillion in cities, $2.3 trillion in food and agriculture, and $1.8 trillion in health and well-being. Third, delaying action will cost far more. The U.S. economy alone stands to lose between $54 trillion and $69 trillion by 2100 due to lost labor productivity, declining crop yields, food shortages, water scarcity, early deaths, property damage, air pollution, flooding, and fires.

In a twisted way, BlackRock and the banks' removal of their masks is a blessing in disguise. It has now become easier for ordinary people—the true warriors in this long struggle—to see the corporate elites for who they are and understand what is required to wrest control of humanity’s future from them and their lackeys in elected office.