By Rachel Koning Beals
Larry Fink — who called climate change the investing opportunity of his lifetime — tells Davos gathering he’s working to change the narrative, such as Elon Musk saying ESG’s ‘S’ stands for ‘satanic’ and Gov. Ron DeSantis
That’s fund giant BlackRock Inc.’s(BLK) Chief Executive Larry Fink’s answer when asked this week at the glitzy Switzerland gathering of executives, economists and politicians about the “anti-woke” pushback against Wall Streeters who see investment opportunity in fighting climate change.
Fink said the contrarian narrative around environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing has become ugly and is creating “huge polarization.” ESG can span issues like gender diversity on boards or executive compensation, but tends to be readily swapped for climate-focused and alternative-energy investing themes, especially as more companies are pressured to report fossil-fuel emissions or consider increasingly popular fuels like solar(ICLN) or hydrogen instead of oil and gas.
Attention on the topic has also gained detractors who suggest any ESG focus dilutes a “neutral” fiduciary obligation that favors returns over other considerations by fund managers and other stakeholders.
“Let’s be clear, the narrative is ugly, the narrative is creating this huge polarization. If you really read the CEO letters that I’ve written in the past I talk about a transition” to new forms of energy or addressing fresh demand from younger…
