Larry Fink sends an annual letter to the bosses of all the companies in which he is invested, and a few years ago a major theme was decarbonization.
As chief executive of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, his message carries clout for investors and corporate leaders around the world.
His next letter is coming soon, and he’s hinting there will be less of an emphasis on the environment and reducing emissions.
“I still believe in that, but I also caution that any decarbonizing technology right now is highly inflationary,” said Fink, while speaking onstage this week in Houston as part of CERAWeek, a global energy conference.
Fink isn’t alone in making this shift. The emphasis on climate action and transitioning to cleaner energy has waned in recent years as more emphasis is often placed on energy security and affordability.
And that was before Donald Trump returned to the White House.
Since then, the U.S. President has pulled the country from the Paris Climate Agreement and slashed climate grants. The Inflation Reduction Act, the clean energy program introduced by former president Joe Biden, is now in the crosshairs.
In addition, Trump has issued an order to revoke Biden’s ban on oil and gas drilling in most U.S. coastal waters, and has also temporarily suspended new or renewed leases for offshore and onshore wind projects.
The campaigns director for the Sierra Club says that Trump’s withdrawal from the climate accord is a ‘call to action’ for every other country in the world, including Canada.
Altogether, hundreds of billions of dollars in clean tech and low-emission energy projects could be impacted, and ripple-effects could be felt around the world.
“Across the board we have to think about power and energy in a pragmatic way,” said Fink.
A few years ago, climate was a major theme of the annual CERAWeek event as corporate and government leaders showcased their environmental progress and latest investments.
This year, it’s noticeably absent from the conversation. Instead, the spotlight is on rising global demand for all types of energy, especially oil and natural gas.
‘A side effect’
While on stage Monday, Trump’s energy secretary Chris Wright called himself a “climate realist.”
“The Trump administration will treat climate change for what it is, a global physical phenomenon that is a side effect of building the modern world,” he said. “Everything in life involves trade-offs. Everything.”
Read More: Climate action is becoming less of a priority around the world. Trump isn’t