(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) BlackRock CEO Larry Fink has reportedly disavowed the “ESG” label after years of commitment to woke capitalism, embroiling the globalist corporate titan in a public spat over its links to radical activist movements while still trying to appease the same leftists.
ESG, short for Environment, Social and Governance, has long been a vehicle for woke capitalism. In a recent statement, Fink attempted to distance himself from hot-button political issues in order to maintain profitability, Axios reported.
“I’m ashamed of being part of this conversation,” he said before a large audience.
“When I write these [investment] letters, it was never meant to be a political statement. . . They were written to identify longterm issues to our longterm investors.”
But, after being pressed on the issue, Fink backtracked, claiming that he just wanted to avoid political extremism and focus on growing his company.
“I never said I was ashamed,” he said, contradicting his earlier statement. “I’m not ashamed. I do believe in conscientious capitalism.”
According to Fink, however, he still rejected “ESG” because “it’s been misused by the far left and the far right.”
The CEO ultimately reaffirmed his commitment to woke values, while still rejecting the label under which they often fall.
“We talk a lot about decarbonization, we talk a lot about governance … or social issues, if that’s something we need to addressed,” he said.
Though it appears that he still believes the same thing, Fink has taken a much softer rhetorical stance than in the past as he attempts to rebrand BlackRock.
In 2020, for example, he claimed that the climate apocalypse has arrived.
“A successful low-carbon transition will require a coordinated, international response from governments aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement, including the adoption of carbon pricing globally, which we continue to endorse,” Fink wrote at the time.
“Companies and investors have a meaningful role to play in accelerating the low-carbon transition.”
