Tell BlackRock: Don’t Bankroll More Fires in Brazil!
(August 21, 2019) — Right now, fires are raging in the Brazilian Amazon – fires apparently set by farmers wanting aiming to aggressively expand massive soy farming and cattle ranching operations.
But what can we do about it? It turns out that several major US-based companies are complicit with his reckless agenda. That includes BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, which has billions of dollars invested in agribusiness companies with major – and growing – footprints in the Amazon.
BlackRock invests in companies like Bunge, a commodities exporter that buys and trades massive quantities of Brazilian soy. Companies like these threaten the most biodiverse rainforest in the world, violate indigenous peoples’ rights, and irrevocably damage their territories.
All the while, BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink says that businesses should have a “social purpose” and think “long term.” But we know that actions speak louder than words, and financing industries causing climate chaos is a BIG problem.
ACTION: Add your voice to the call for BlackRock to stop financing the industries that destroy the climate, human rights and precious ecosystems like the Amazon!
Sign the Petition: Demand BlackRock stop financing Amazon destruction!
BlackRock chief Larry Fink.
BlackRock Is Fueling the Flames of Amazon Forest
Daily Kos et al / ActionNetwork
(August 21, 2019) — BlackRock, the world’s largest investment firm, has more money invested in the fossil fuel and agribusiness industries — the biggest drivers of climate change — than any other company in the world. That means that BlackRock’s portfolio constitutes a huge liability for putting the planet on a path towards runaway climate change — in fact, BlackRock contributes more to climate change than almost any other company on Earth.
The Amazon rainforest and its Indigenous inhabitants are under acute threat from BlackRock, taking advantage of Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro’s removal of environmental barriers to economic activities in the Amazon.
And now they will have even more access to deforestation and destruction.
Bolsonaro has advocated for the opening of new areas of the Amazon rainforest to agriculture and industry. As a result, BlackRock announced plans to expand its operations in Brazil after Bolsonaro was elected. Moves like this signal strong support for Bolsonaro, whose toxic rhetoric is inspiring violence against indigenous communities in the Amazon and beyond.
As one of the largest investors in Brazil’s agribusiness industry, BlackRock could use its financial clout to curb, not encourage, further forest destruction. It must divest from companies that continue these horrendous practices.
Join us in this fight to protect the Amazon and curb climate change!
Sign the Petition: Demand that BlackRock divest and stop financing Amazon destruction!
THE LETTER
BlackRock’s investments drive deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, and its financial backing helps embolden the destructive and violent agenda of President Jair Bolsonaro. We demand you cease financing the continued destruction of the Amazon rainforest. Humanity is counting on you.
Participating Organizations:
Amazon
Watch
Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Climate Hawks Vote
Corporate Accountability
CREDO
Action
Daily Kos
Friends of the Earth
Green America
Rainforest Action Network
Seeding Sovereignty
SierraRise
Stand
Blackrock is the Biggest Driver of Climate Destruction on the Planet
Since the financial crisis, obscure investors known as “Asset Managers” have quietly become the biggest owners of the global economy.
These giant investors have massive power, pushing companies to endlessly grow, no matter the consequences.
Asset Managers control $90 trillion of capital.
The largest, BlackRock, has $6.3 trillion under management. That’s roughly equal to the world’s top 20 pension funds combined.
As the world’s biggest investor, Blackrock is also the world’s biggest owner of fossil fuel companies.
BlackRock is the largest investor in new coal plant development worldwide. Coal is the biggest cause of climate pollution. It is one of the largest investors in oil and gas companies.
It is the largest US investor in rainforest destruction, the second significant driver of climate change after fossil fuel development.
Blackrock contributes more to climate change than almost any other company on Earth.
To save our climate, this needs to change. Blackrock needs to walk its talk:
BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink wants to be a model corporate citizen.
He’s a Democrat, a philanthropist, and sits on the board of a major conservation organization.
The company and its employees give generously to humanitarian causes – inclu Fink’s recent annual investor letter rocked the financial world by saying:
“Society is demanding that companies, both public and private, serve a social purpose. Every company must not only deliver financial performance, but also show how it makes a positive contribution to society.”
Yet Blackrock’s business practices are making the climate worse:
Unlike other asset managers, it refuses to divest from companies that are making the climate crisis worse.
It votes against shareholder demands for climate action and transparency.
It offers no transparency into its shareholder engagement practices.
Worse, BlackRock pretends its ownership doesn’t count, that
it has no responsibility for the impacts of the companies it owns.
The climate crisis is
accelerating, worse and faster than expected.
Every year brings more record-breaking heat waves, fires, hurricanes, floods, and climate refugees.
Industry’s dangerous megaprojects will destroy communities and the wild spaces we have left.
Yet fossil fuel companies won’t stop drilling and digging.
In 2017, almost $800 billion was invested worldwide in new oil, gas, and coal extraction. The business model of the fossil fuel industry in on track to create a world with 4-degree temperature rise.
That’s the uninhabitable Earth. We won’t let that happen.
Blackrock’s got a big problem. It needs to stop funding the destruction of our climate and communities. We need Blackrock to:
Divest from fossil fuel companies that won’t change their practices.
Prioritize fossil fuel and deforestation free funds.
Rigorously push companies it owns to align their goals with the Paris climate agreement.
Escalate pressure on industry laggards through transparent shareholder engagement.
A campaign targeting asset managers to stop driving the climate crisis.
Email: info@BlackRocksBigProblem.com
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