ONE YEAR ON: BlackRock still addicted to fossil fuels

The report finds that BlackRock continues to invest heavily in coal and other fossil fuels despite public pledges to invest sustainably. It highlights significant loopholes in BlackRock's coal policy and a systemic issue where passively managed assets—comprising the majority of its portfolio—are exempt from exclusion criteria.

• BlackRock's global coal policy is deemed ineffective because it only covers 17% of the coal industry and excludes only mining companies that derive more than 25% of their revenues from coal production.
• A critical gap in BlackRock's strategy is that its coal exclusion policy applies only to actively managed portfolios, leaving more than two-thirds of its total assets—which are passively managed—uncovered.
• BlackRock lacks a global exclusion policy for other high-impact fossil fuels and commodities, specifically shale oil and gas, tar sands, Amazon oil, and Arctic drilling.
• The report identifies a failure in BlackRock's engagement and voting strategy, noting that the firm voted against 88% of climate resolutions in 2020.
• Sustainable investment options within BlackRock's iShares ETFs represent a small portion of total assets, accounting for approximately 3% of iShares assets under management in the UK market.

APA

Cuvelier, L., & Pinson, L. (2021). ONE YEAR ON: BlackRock still addicted to fossil fuels. Reclaim Finance. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/OneYearOnBlackRockStillAddictedToFossilFuels.pdf

Chicago

Cuvelier, Lara, and Lucie Pinson. ONE YEAR ON: BlackRock still addicted to fossil fuels. Reclaim Finance, 2021. https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/OneYearOnBlackRockStillAddictedToFossilFuels.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Cuvelier |first1=Lara |last2=Pinson |first2=Lucie |title=ONE YEAR ON: BlackRock still addicted to fossil fuels |publisher=Reclaim Finance |date=January 2021 |url=https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/OneYearOnBlackRockStillAddictedToFossilFuels.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cuvelier2021one, author = {Cuvelier, Lara and Pinson, Lucie}, title = {{ONE YEAR ON: BlackRock still addicted to fossil fuels}}, institution = {Reclaim Finance}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://reclaimfinance.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/OneYearOnBlackRockStillAddictedToFossilFuels.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }