British lawmakers are working to prevent future days of heavy pollution, though investment firms said during a query on net-zero emission ambitions that's a government issue. File photo by Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA
Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Major investment firms told officials in London they had no plans to stop backing fossil fuels despite global efforts to achieve a low-carbon future.
The House of Commons is holding an inquiry through its Environmental Audit Committee to vet questions over how the British economy can meet its net-zero obligations. In response to written questions from the committee, BlackRock said it was obligated to align its practices with the best interest of its clients, not the government.
Shareholders at big energy companies have expressed concern about capital discipline, which could limit future spending on production at a time when global supplies of crude oil and natural gas are exceptionally tight. Other energy companies, meanwhile, are busy pursuing greener alternatives.
But BlackRock, according to the Bloomberg news agency, said Tuesday it was in no position to "engineer a specific decarbonization outcome in the real economy." That may be a matter best left to individual governments, not the private sector, the firm added.
Vanguard, for its part, echoed BlackRock by saying it "does not dictate strategy" and therefore has no position on net-zero ambitions. The firm in August, however, launched a fund that targeted clean investments.
"The actively managed fund will hold a concentrated portfolio of companies that both are involved in the process of decarbonization and derive at least half of their revenue from activities deemed by the fund's advisor to contribute positively to environmental change," it said at the time.
The British government, meanwhile, said it's already been able to cut its total greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 50% relative to 1990 levels. In 2019, it became the first major economy in the world to adopt legislation that sets a target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
Pressure to do more, however, is mounting. Climate activists last week vandalized a Van Gogh painting at a London museum to highlight the environmental concerns.
