Description
This research project examines the role of the major asset management companies - BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street - in the drive for a just transition within the world’s most carbon-intensive sectors. Specifically, we focus on the Carbon Majors: a small group of fossil fuel, mining and cement companies responsible for over 70% of industry’s greenhouse gas emissions since 1988; and we examine the extent to which the ‘Big Three’ asset managers are promoting change in these companies along more sustainable lines. We map out the growth of the Big Three’s ownership in the publicly-owned Carbon Majors and we investigate how their growing equity stakes translate in terms of influence over these companies’ environmental, social and governance strategies. Overall, we argue that the narrative of sustainable finance may be a dangerous delusion which diverts attention away from the central role that governments ought to play in driving decarbonization.
