Larry Fink Sounds Greenwashing Alarm as Fossil Fuels Move Into Private Hands

(Bloomberg) -- Larry Fink said too narrow a focus on the climate policies of public companies risks undermining the green agenda and is potentially creating “the largest capital-market arbitrage in our lifetimes,” as hydrocarbon assets move from public to private hands.

“There’s more movement away from hydrocarbon assets into private hands than anytime, ever,” Fink said. “That does not change the net zero world. That’s window dressing, that’s greenwashing.” 

The BlackRock Inc. chief executive officer was speaking on a panel Tuesday at the Green Horizon Summit, a finance-focused event hosted by the City of London and the Green Finance Institute on the sidelines of the COP26 meeting in Glasgow. 

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Fink called for a holistic approach to ensure all businesses are held to the same standard. He also said any mechanism for carbon pricing must be responsive to higher energy prices to ensure the transition to green energy doesn’t unduly impact the poorest parts of society.

Fink, who turned up to the event in hiking boots and a suit, was due to be joined by COP26 Climate Advisor Mark Carney for the panel. But attendees were told the former Bank of England governor wouldn’t make it because he was being held in the so-called blue zone, which the secret service had locked down as President Joe Biden left. The Lord Mayor of London William Russell stepped in at the last minute to fill Carney’s place.

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