BlackRock to shun polluters in fight against climate change

Changing stance: A file picture showing a protester holding a sign during a youth climate strike outside BlackRock offices in San Francisco. Activists have targeted the firm, asking for more action around the global crisis of climate change.— AFP

NEW YORK: BlackRock Inc will ditch investments with high sustainability-related risk as climate concerns drive a sweeping change in the way the world’s largest asset manager invests its US$7 trillion in assets.

“Climate change has become a defining factor in companies’ long-term prospects,” chief executive officer Larry Fink wrote in his annual letter to corporate executives on Tuesday. “Awareness is rapidly changing, and I believe we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance.”