Share this on social media
EU ombudsman criticises BlackRock contract
(EurActiv, 25 Nov 2020) The EU’s ombudsman on Wednesday (25 November) reproached the European Commission for a contract with BlackRock, the world’s biggest asset manager, to study sustainable finance regulations which raised conflict-of-interest questions.
Emily O’Reilly, whose role is to be an ethics watchdog over the Commission, criticised current rules on attributing contracts, saying they were “not robust and clear enough to allow officials to find conflict of interest other than in a very narrow range of professional conflicts”.
Although her finding cannot cancel the contract to the US company, it comes with recommendations that the vetting rules be overhauled.
It also noted that BlackRock’s bidding price for the €280,000 contract was “exceptionally low … which could be perceived as an attempt to assert influence over an investment area of relevance to its clients”.
A spokesman for the European Commission responded by saying the ombudsman’s report “did not identify any maladministration” and asserted that the current contract-awarding rules were applied “fully and fairly”.
External link
EurActiv, 25 Nov 2020: EU ombudsman criticises BlackRock contract
More Related News
Sustainable finance
16 Apr 2024: World Bank climate funding greens African hotels while fishermen sink
12 Apr 2024: UN climate chief calls for “quantum leap in climate finance”
22 Mar 2024: Climate-focused investment firm World Fund raises 300 mln euros
19 Mar 2024: Fossil fuel sector should pay climate finance, EU ministers say
12 Mar 2024: Do the EU’s new ESG rules make ratings more reliable?
27 Feb 2024: Brazil partners with largest climate finance alliance to boost green growth
23 Feb 2024: EU Commission eyes ‘Juncker plan on steroids’ to boost green investments
9 Feb 2024: Barclays to adopt fresh curbs on oil and gas financing
23 Jan 2024: Most euro zone banks face risk from climate complacency, ECB finds
27 Nov 2023: Australian super fund puts billions into backing Britain’s energy transition
14 Nov 2023: Time to close the gap that allows EU companies to fuel the climate crisis
28 Sep 2023: Big European insurers ‘underwrite 30% of US coal despite net zero pledges’
4 Jul 2023: Climate change talk is cheap without projects to finance
30 Jun 2023: Establishing criteria for foreign investment in Ukraine’s energy sector
30 Jun 2023: Climate groups accept millions from charity linked to fossil fuel investments
30 Jun 2023: Public banks agree to check investments against countries’ climate plans
22 Jun 2023: No new EU money for green tech in latest budget review
9 Jun 2023: Rich world’s leaders fail to commit to Paris global financing summit
2 Jun 2023: “Green” finance bankrolls forest destruction in Indonesia
9 May 2023: Central banks raising interest rates makes it harder to fight the climate crisis
21 Apr 2023: UN’s Green Climate Fund too scared of risk, finds official review
21 Apr 2023: In meeting with big economies, US announces more funds to fight climate change
18 Apr 2023: As the climate suffers, enforcement needed for corporate green pledges
14 Apr 2023: Banks say they’re acting on climate, but continue to finance fossil fuel expansion
13 Apr 2023: Why the World Bank must boost green investment in emerging markets
20 Mar 2023: US banks are sacrificing poor communities to the climate crisis
3 Mar 2023: EU negotiators agree on rules defining European green bonds
24 Feb 2023: ‘We have no time to lose’: Ban Ki-moon criticises climate finance delays
23 Feb 2023: India set to push for green World Bank reforms at G20
17 Feb 2023: Climate transition plans for banks: EU legislators on a razor’s edge
27 Jan 2023: Just 7% of global banks’ energy financing goes to renewables, new data shows
17 Jan 2023: Banks still investing heavily in fossil fuels despite net zero pledges – study
29 Nov 2022: New transparency rules a ‘gamechanger’ for European green finance
28 Nov 2022: Here’s how to get private finance into climate action
25 Oct 2022: Mark Carney denies big banks threatened to quit climate finance group
13 Oct 2022: US, Germany back ‘fundamental reform’ of World Bank to scale climate finance
4 Oct 2022: Philippines raises minimum renewable energy capacity to 2.5% in power mix
3 Oct 2022: World Bank criticised over climate crisis spending
16 Sep 2022: Five priorities for a meaningful post-2025 climate finance target
13 Sep 2022: You can’t stock-pick your way out of environmental collapse, superannuation boss warns
26 Aug 2022: India's climate entrepreneurs are struggling to finance their future
22 Jul 2022: Massachusetts set to enable citizens to give climate finance to vulnerable nations
17 Jun 2022: Bank group accused of exploiting loopholes and ‘greenwashing’ in climate pledge
5 May 2022: EU body sets out draft sustainability disclosure standards
3 May 2022: Going green? Chinese policy banks’ changing role in global energy development
12 Apr 2022: World Bank condemned by watchdog for helping finance Philippines coal boom
1 Apr 2022: Big banks failing to quit fossil fuel, despite climate pledges
11 Mar 2022: Rich countries close in on $100B pledge for international climate finance
17 Feb 2022: As the AIIB reviews its energy strategy, will it finally go fossil free?
4 Feb 2022: Indian village banks on tree mortgages in bid to go carbon-neutral
24 Jan 2022: £262bn investor says it will target bosses who fail on climate or human rights
20 Jan 2022: BlackRock’s Larry Fink: climate policies are about profits, not being ‘woke’
16 Nov 2021: Finance must combat climate change - or else
5 Nov 2021: Banks are still financing fossil fuels – while signing up to net zero pledges
29 Oct 2021: EU climate and infrastructure agency eyes end of fossil fuel projects
28 Oct 2021: European Investment Bank to end all loans to oil and gas firms
21 Oct 2021: New Zealand passes climate change disclosure laws for financial firms in world first
21 Oct 2021: Hedge fund billionaire calls for higher capital requirements for fossil fuel financing
12 Oct 2021: Dispute grips Green Climate Fund over net zero condition for accessing finance
23 Sep 2021: World leaders at UN urged to end public finance to fossil fuels
13 Sep 2021: Harvard University to end investment in fossil fuels
31 Aug 2021: Singapore exchange proposes mandatory climate-related disclosures
26 Aug 2021: Joe Biden can seal a breakthrough deal to end global public finance for fossil fuels
13 Jul 2021: BlackRock CEO calls for stronger climate finance plan at G20 meet
8 Jul 2021: ECB ramps up its role in tacking climate change
24 Jun 2021: EU watchdog tells banks to have a 10-year climate plan
15 Jun 2021: EU, US eye ‘Green Technology Alliance’ at Brussels summit
11 Jun 2021: G7: why major economies are delaying a break with the fossil fuel industry.
11 Jun 2021: Asian Development Bank no longer to support coal
11 Jun 2021: Fashion label Chanel invests $25 million in new climate adaptation fund
10 Jun 2021: Leading investors urge governments to end support for fossil fuels
8 Jun 2021: New investor club pushes Asian electric utilities to slash emissions
7 Jun 2021: G7 finance policies are urgently needed to achieve net-zero goals
7 Jun 2021: Republicans pledge allegiance to fossil fuels like it’s still the 1950s
7 Jun 2021: G7 agree on ‘historic steps’ to make climate reporting mandatory
27 May 2021: Exxon loses board seats to activist hedge fund in landmark climate vote
25 May 2021: British banks finance 805m tonnes of CO2 production a year
10 May 2021: Asian Development Bank to end coal, oil and gas financing -draft statement
20 Apr 2021: The EIB needs to support the transformation of EU mobility, not undermine it
30 Mar 2021: Green investing 'is definitely not going to work’, says ex-BlackRock executive
29 Mar 2021: One fifth of the world’s largest companies have set net zero targets
22 Mar 2021: New EU reporting requirements will force firms to ‘get serious’
22 Mar 2021: Investors urge Europe to prioritise climate in agriculture reform
22 Mar 2021: Fossil fuel polluters are the new tobacco
18 Mar 2021: 'Green' funds shown to herd less, cutting climate shock risk - EU watchdog
16 Mar 2021: Unleashing the climate market
15 Mar 2021: Coal-backing Japanese bank bids for Green Climate Fund partnership
11 Mar 2021: EU prepares to turn the screw on asset managers over greenwashing
11 Mar 2021: France urges common U.S.-EU green finance rules after Kerry talks
1 Mar 2021: Banks in EU should publish yardstick of ‘green’ activity, says watchdog
1 Mar 2021: Spanish energy companies to carry the torch for renewable deals
1 Mar 2021: British insurer Aviva sets out net zero 2040 climate strategy
25 Feb 2021: Show us the plan: Investors push companies to come clean on climate
18 Feb 2021: Finance ministers have to be green in today's world, says OECD head
11 Jan 2021: Africa's leap to clean energy seen needing policy change, investment
11 Jan 2021: World Bank to invest $5 bln in 11 African countries
15 Dec 2020: Europe's banks have a way to go on sustainability - BlackRock study
17 Sep 2020: BlackRock votes against 49 companies for lack of climate crisis progress
8 Sep 2020: Luxembourg raises 1.5 bln euros in Europe's first 'sustainability' government bond
