BlackRock gets praise for coal divestment. What it really needs is regulation | Ann Pettifor

For the world's biggest fund manager and its fellow shadow banks, self-policing can never be sufficientLet's not beat about the bushfires. It's not the impacts of climate breakdown on our ecosystems or the world's poorest in the global south that worries Larry Fink, the CEO of that financial behemoth BlackRock. No, what really worries him and his shadow banking peers is the "fundamental reshaping of finance" threatened by climate protesters, and what this means for his company's interests.Fink made headlines this week with his annual letter to CEOs, which put the climate emergency front and centre. Acknowledging the risks that it poses to markets, and announcing that his fund will no longer invest in companies that generate more than 25% of their revenue from thermal coal production, his letter was hailed as a landmark move. But, before we get too laudatory, it's worth asking: what is BlackRock? Continue reading...