BlackRock’s Larry Fink Sets a Bolder Climate Goal in Annual Letter

BlackRock’s Larry Fink Sets a Bolder Climate Goal in Annual Letter

DealBook Business and PolicyDealBookBlackRock Chief Pushes a Bold New Climate Goal for the Corporate WorldLarry Fink is using his firm's huge influence to pressure companies to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.Laurence D. Fink of BlackRock is pushing companies to issue more detailed climate disclosures.Credit...Damon Winter/The New York TimesBy Andrew Ross SorkinJan. 26, 2021, 6:00 a.m. ETA year ago this month, the BlackRock chief Laurence D. Fink wrote a letter to the world's C.E.O.s with an urgent message: Climate change will be “a defining factor in companies' long-term prospects.” Underscoring his point, he added, “We are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance.”Coming from arguably the world's most powerful investor — BlackRock controls nearly $9 trillion, making it far and away the largest such firm — this letter landed with seismic force in boardrooms across the globe. In the weeks that followed, Microsoft announced a plan to be carbon-negative by 2030, Salesforce pledged to conserve or restore 100 million trees over the next decade and even Delta Air Lines announced a $1 billion effort to be carbon-neutral in 10 years.Still, skeptics argued that Mr. Fink's support for the reform-minded E.S.G. movement — which stands for environment, sustainability and