FT: BlackRock’s support for ESG measures falls to new low

THE FINANCIAL TIMES reports:

BlackRock’s support for shareholder proposals on environmental and social issues has fallen to a fraction of its 2021 peak, it disclosed on Wednesday, even as its support for governance-related questions rose.

In the 12 months to the end of June, BlackRock supported just 20 of the 493 environmental and social proposals put forward by shareholders at annual meetings, or about 4 per cent of the total, according to its annual investment stewardship report.

That compares with a high of 47 per cent in 2021. By last year the figure had fallen to 7 per cent.

The decline in support comes as companies’ efforts to address climate change and inequality — issues that were once bundled together with governance under the ESG umbrella — have become politically fraught…

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