While departing US climate envoy John Kerry rightly admonishes asset managers for abdicating their leadership role in climate advocacy (Interview, February 29), he failed to properly contextualise the outsized role asset managers play in our economy.
The firms mentioned — BlackRock, JPMorgan Asset Management, Pimco and State Street Global Advisors — all hold enormous leverage to curb emissions relative to other entities, or individuals. As stewards of trillions in capital worldwide, and as some of the largest shareholders across carbon-intensive industries, their potential impact massively eclipses that of nearly every other environmental advocacy group.
BlackRock alone commands assets of over $9tn — more than the gross domestic product of every nation except the US and China. This gives it unmatched authority to compel corporate decarbonisation through investment decisions and shareholder activism. Yet in forfeiting their place at the centre of the fight against climate change, asset managers are putting our chances of meeting 2050 goals at greater risk than if the backsliding were to be happening at a political level.
No grassroots movement can match the financial firepower and scale of asset managers in the fight against climate change. Your coverage would give readers a better sense of its importance if the perspective emphasised the magnitude of influence these institutions wield over emissions outcomes. Proper understanding of the power asset managers have is central to the importance of what secretary Kerry rightly laments in this article.
Ashley Harris
New York, NY, US
