BlackRock and Mike Bloomberg agree that measuring climate risk and investing in clean energy is smart capitalism

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Billionaire businessman and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the investing behemoth BlackRock have both recently issued their own strongly worded missives defending investments in climate solutions and clean energy and saying that requesting climate-related risk disclosures from companies is smart capitalism.

The letters come as political pressure mounts against the idea of environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds, which purport to give people an easy way to invest in companies acting responsibly in those areas. Critics, particularly on the Republican side, have said ESG is a cover for a political agenda and is partly aimed against fossil fuel producers.

Bloomberg, who is currently worth almost $77 billion according to Forbes, published an op-ed in his namesake media publication on Tuesday deriding the Republican-led efforts to politicize investment decisions in climate solutions and clean energy.

«In a world rapidly moving to clean energy, companies that are dependent on fossil fuels put investors at greater risk,» Bloomberg wrote.

«The fact is: Climate risk is financial risk. Costs from climate-related weather events now exceed $100 billion annually — and that is only counting insured losses,» Bloomberg wrote. «Accounting for these and other losses isn't social policy. It's smart investing. And refusing to allow firms to do it comes with a big cost to taxpayers.»

On Wednesday, BlackRock sent a letter to a collection of attorney generals which defended its engagement in measuring the climate risk of companies and investing in clean energy as responsibly carrying out its fiduciary duty to clients.

«Our commitment to our clients' financial interests is unwavering and undivided,» wrote