His decision coincides in time with the overwhelming victory of Donald Trump in the presidential elections to the United States, its denialist ideology in the face of global warming and the determined commitment to promoting the fossil fuel industry.
The Net-Zero Banking Alliance was created in 2021, within the UN (United Nations Organization), and brought together a group of banks from around the world that represented around 40% of global banking assets. From then until today, and without subtracting these great investment titans, the number of members tripled, going from 43 to 144 banks.
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“The decision that these investment funds have made does not mean that the energy transition is no longer of interest, we do not see a change in its dynamics. Decarbonization is still necessary, and renewables are an attractive and profitable investment,” he explains to EL ESPAÑOL-Invertia Santiago Blancoexecutive vice president and regional director for Energy Systems in DNV for Southern Europe.
“But decarbonization is not linear, sometimes it accelerates and other times, just the opposite. And although electricity companies are committed to this process, there are some oil & gas to those that generate more doubts”.
Bet on gas and Trump
In the expert’s opinion, “oil and gas businesses are not going to disappear in the coming decades.” According to your latest report Energy Transition Outlook 2024the energy transition “most likely” will lead to 2.2°C warming by the end of this century.
“According to our analyses, in 2050 energy consumption will continue to depend on 50% of fossil fuelsdespite the enormous deployment of the renewable and the development of other vectors such as biogas, green hydrogen or biofuels“.
Therefore, “the funds see an attractive business in the gas industry.” We must not forget that there are sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as the automotive sector, aviation, industry, the primary sector, air conditioning or buildings.
For DNV, gas will be the fossil fuel that displaces oil in the coming decades. “And the United States is acquiring a position of global dominance in this sector.”
Trump denialism
To Aurora Energy Researcha global provider of energy market analysis, Donald Trump’s victory for the US presidency has had an impact on global gas markets.
“The political context has influenced the decision made by entities such as JP Morgan or BlackRock regarding climate financing,” its experts tell this newspaper.
This has happened with BlackRock, whose vice president Philipp Hildebrand, according to a copy of the letter published by Financial Times, wrote that membership in NZAB “had caused confusion regarding the company’s practices and had subjected us to legal investigations by various public officials.”
Since 2020, Lawrence D. Fink, owner of the firm, has reported being the subject of constant attacks by American conservative politicianswhich have launched lawsuits, regulatory investigations and boycotts. Following the stance that “climate risk is an investment risk,” the $11.5 trillion fund manager was accused of using his large holdings to fuel climate activism and other forms of “progressive capitalism” in American companies.
Late last year, 11 Republican-led states sued BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street, alleging they had conspired to limit coal supplies and promote a “destructive and politicized environmental agenda.”
BlackRock’s support for shareholder proposals on environmental and social issues has fallen from 47% in 2021 to 4% last year.