The transatlantic divide over sustainable investing just got wider
The gap between European and U.S. approaches to sustainable investing got wider this week when the Dutch pension manager Pensioenfonds Zorg en Welzijn (PFZW) withdrew US$17 billion from stock funds managed by BlackRock.
Concerns about BlackRock’s poor stewardship of climate risk were to blame for the break. PFZW says it is now pursuing an investment strategy that gives equal weight to financial performance, risk and sustainability.
The Dutch climate advocacy group Fossil Free Netherlands celebrated the move as a victory for its Break with BlackRock campaign, which it launched in January when the behemoth asset manager withdrew from the Net Zero Asset Managers alliance. More than 2,500 people wrote letters to…
