When fossil fuel divestment was merely a gesture by universities, the Church of England and the Prince of Wales it was easy to ignore; it is rather less so when the head of the world’s largest fund management company says that he is going to start ‘exiting investments’ in coal producers and other companies he claims represent a ‘high sustainability–related risk’. That is what Larry Fink of Blackrock, which manages £5 trillion worth of investors’ money, did in a letter to business leaders this week, citing last year’s climate change protests as evidence that attitudes were changing.
This fits a more general trend of ‘woke capitalism’, whereby companies that would not dream of taking sides in party political battles enter the culture wars. Much of the fight takes place in the workplace, especially in human resources departments, which have started introducing some of the crazier ideas to have fomented on university campuses. So workers, like students, are becoming fearful of expressing opposition to identity politics initiatives lest they are seen as bigots.
The companies most afraid of the mob — usually banks and oil companies — have in recent years started to adopt the language of their critics. BP has rebranded itself ‘Beyond Petroleum’, as if to position itself as being somehow opposed to the extraction of oil and gas. If BP won’t make a basic defence for the important role fossil fuels currently play in our society, or if banks are too terrified of talking about the benefits of a financial services industry, they should not be surprised if those who oppose them are emboldened — and if politicians then join in.
Achieving net zero carbon emissions can only be achieved if technology and the free market work together
That the world needs to reduce carbon emissions has been widely accepted for some time now.
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