"Leading investors urge governments to end support for fossil fuels" 10 June 2021

Investors controlling $41tn (£29tn) in assets have called for governments around the world to end support for fossil fuels and set targets for rapid reductions in carbon emissions to limit the damage from global heating.

The 457 investors, who hold almost a third of world’s assets under management, signed a joint statement calling for governments to “significantly strengthen” their plans to cut carbon emissions in the next decade and to bring in detailed targets for net zero emissions by 2050 or sooner.

It is believed to represent the largest group of investors by assets ever to join a concerted call for climate action...

...investors called for “sustainable Covid-19 economic recovery efforts” and measures to reduce the burning of fossil fuels such as a ban on new coal plants, and set deadlines to phase out coal and other fossil fuels...

There were some notable exceptions that did not sign the letter, which was coordinated by the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, a European membership body. They included the world’s largest investor, BlackRock, and its closest rival, Vanguard. However, State Street Global Advisors, the third of the “big three” most powerful providers of index-tracking funds, did sign it...