Lamar Johnson
3 min read
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This story was originally published on ESG Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily ESG Dive newsletter.
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The Texas Comptroller’s office has removed BlackRock from the state’s list of companies who allegedly “boycott the oil and gas industry,” according to a Tuesday press release.
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State Comptroller Glenn Hegar credited BlackRock for exiting the Net-Zero Asset Manager initiative and downgrading its participation in Climate Action 100+, which he said was “directly related to [the state’s] listing process” in a June 3 statement accompanying the update.
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BlackRock was among the initial 10 firms named in the divestment list published in August 2022 and, despite quarterly updates to the list, was the only United States-based firm listed and banned from doing business with the state.
The divestment list was created by a 2021 Texas law banning the state from doing business with companies that “limit commercial relations” with fossil fuel companies. After Hegar added London-based bank NatWest Group to the list in August 2024, the list had grown to include 16 companies and 350 investment funds that qualified for divestment. After the June 3 update, the list stands at 15 companies — all based outside of the U.S. — and 332 funds.
Hegar said, in addition to BlackRock’s changed participation in industry climate groups, the nation’s largest asset management firm “dramatically reduced the number of fund offerings that prohibit investments in oil and gas” and has “acknowledged the real social and economic costs, both in Texas and globally, that come from limiting investment in the oil and gas industry.”
BlackRock shifted its membership in CA100+ to a smaller international arm of its business in February 2024; more than 70 investors have left the group since House Republicans began probing its membership. BlackRock’s exit from NZAM this January prompted the United Nations-backed group to suspend all operations while it undergoes a full review of its program.
The Texas comptroller said his team hoped to create a process “that gave companies a clear understanding of how they got on our list and a definitive path to removal” and BlackRock took steps to ensure they were removed.
“This is a meaningful victory and validates the leadership Texas has shown on this issue, which has seen a monumental shift in the way companies, governments and individual Americans view the energy sector,” Hegar said. “While it took [BlackRock] longer than others in the financial sector to make the shift, the end results are what matter.”
