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NYC Pension Funds Say BlackRock, Fidelity not Aligned with Climate Expectations

Abatify Summary

Nature & Climate Perspective

**The friction between institutional investors and major asset managers slows the capital mobilization required for large-scale LULUCF and biodiversity restoration projects. **

  • Inconsistent climate voting from asset managers undermines the financial valuation of ecosystem services and nature-based sequestration.
  • The lack of alignment hampers the transition to high-integrity Blue Carbon and forest conservation initiatives that rely on long-term institutional capital.
  • Fragmented investment signals create ecological instability by delaying the phase-out of financing for industries that drive deforestation and habitat loss.

Market & Policy Outlook

**NYC’s critique highlights a growing gap between asset manager performance and ICVCM Core Carbon Principles (CCPs), specifically regarding transition integrity and Scope 3 accountability. **

  • The critique signals an shift where fiduciary duty is increasingly interpreted as requiring strict adherence to SBTi-aligned decarbonization pathways.
  • Market liquidity for carbon-intensive assets faces risk as NYC Pension Funds pressure BlackRock and Fidelity to justify fossil fuel exposure against net-zero benchmarks.
  • The misalignment challenges the credibility of I-RECs and offset-heavy strategies if asset managers do not enforce rigorous additionality and permanence across their portfolios.
New York City’s pension funds reported that asset managers BlackRock and Fidelity remain “insufficiently aligned” […]

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