Facing increasing pressure to take action on environmental issues, Blackrock has joined Climate Action 100+, a network of investment managers dedicated to promote cleaner practices among large corporations.

With nearly $7 trillion assets under management, BlackRock is the world’s largest investment manager, making it a prime target for activists looking to put pressure on corporate GHG emitters. BlackRock has recently been the focus of public scrutiny for not backing shareholder resolutions on environmental issues and disclosures, particularly after the company declined to join many other institutional investors in signing the Global Investor Statement to Governments on Climate Change at last year’s United Nations Climate Conference (COP25). Joining Climate Action 100+, however, appears to indicate BlackRock will become more active and vocal on climate issues.

Climate Action 100+ consists of more than 370 investors, with over $41 trillion in assets collectively under management. The organization engages companies on issues including governance, curbing emissions and strengthening climate-related disclosures, and targets primarily 100 “systemically important emitters,” which account for two thirds of global industrial emissions.

BlackRock’s involvement in Climate Action 100+ will likely have a meaningful impact on corporate engagement on environmental issues. According to Stephanie Pfeifer, member of the Climate Action 100+ Steering Committee and CEO, Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC), ““With the world’s largest asset manager now joining Climate Action 100+, company boards should be under no illusion of the need to take action on climate change and reduce their emissions.”