Frankfurt, Germany – Greenpeace Germany supporters protested at global investment firm BlackRock’s German headquarters today, to tell them to stop investing in coal and financing climate change as the majority shareholder of Siemens – a telecommunications provider for the Adani coal mine in Australia.[1]
Just days before the Siemens annual general meeting in Munich, 25 activists hoisted banners on cranes in front of BlackRock’s German office, saying: “BlackRock: Your assets are on fire!” Greenpeace Germany is calling on BlackRock to ask the Siemens Board of Directors to stop supporting infrastructure projects attached to the controversial Adani mine in Queensland, Australia.[2]
Volker Gaßner, Finance Expert at Greenpeace Germany said:
“BlackRock has an opportunity to show they are serious about climate protection and transparency with the companies they invest in.
“The climate crisis is happening now, so they must live up to their promise and abandon the Siemens’ executive board which is involved in climate-damaging projects such as the Adani’s Carmicheal mine in Australia.”
Siemens will provide rail signaling technology for the infrastructure of the gigantic coal mine. The contract with the Adani Group was recently signed in December 2019, at the same time when the devastating bushfires in Australia broke out.
David Ritter, CEO Greenpeace Australia Pacific said:
“Australia’s coal-fired bushfires are still raging. Koalas are burning alive, fires threaten families all over the country, and our capital city is choking on toxic smoke, and yet companies like BlackRock and Siemens continue to support fossil fuels by aiding projects like Adani’s Carmichael coal mine.
Unless BlackRock wants to be remembered as the coal that stoked the bushfire crisis, it must lead by example and fix its own portfolio, and demand Siemens Energy withdraw from infrastructure support for not only the catastrophic Adani coal mine, but all fossil fuels completely.”
If completed, the Carmichael mine in Queensland, Australia would be one of the largest in the world and is estimated to emit an additional 78 million tonnes of CO2 annually.[3]
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink recently wrote a letter to management and supervisory boards asking companies to be more sustainable, announcing that future investments will be linked to climate protection criteria.[4] If BlackRock wants to put its words into action, the world’s largest wealth advisor must also tidy up its own portfolio.[5]
According to research by The Guardian, BlackRock currently holds stocks and bonds worth over $87 billion in coal, oil, and gas companies and is the world’s largest investor in coal projects.[6]
ENDS.
Photo and video:
Images and video from the protest available here.
Notes:
[1] Global Investment firm BlackRock holds 5% of Siemens shares.
[2] Siemens’ Annual General Meeting will take place in Munich on Wednesday, where shareholders will vote, among other things, on the discharge of their Executive Board.
[3] http://envlaw.com.au/wp-content/uploads/carmichael14.pdf
[4] https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/investor-relations/larry-fink-ceo-letter
[5] Largest in terms of invested money: estimated 7 trillion Us-Dollar
[6] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/12/top-three-asset-managers-fossil-fuel-investments
Contacts:
Greenpeace Germany Media Officer, Sonka Terfehr, +49 175 589 1718, [email protected]
Greenpeace Australia Pacific Communications Campaigner, Martin Zavan: +61 424 295 422, [email protected]
Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0)20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), [email protected]
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