While ASU claims to be a sustainable institution, its endowment is run by BlackRock, a perpetrator of carbon emissions, and ASU's strategy of using carbon offsets to reach "net-zero" goals is dubious at best.
ASU's $1.25 billion endowment is an important source of funding, and is made up of recurring gifts the University invests to create long-term revenue.
ASU claims its endowment is a source of sustainable and green funding. One of the reasons used to support these claims is that its outsourced chief investment officer is BlackRock, a global investments manager that manages over $10 trillion in assets. According to ASU's endowment website, BlackRock is a sustainable leader. "Like ASU, BlackRock has been a leader for sustainability and environmentally responsible practices," the website says.
However, BlackRock's past and current realities signify the opposite: BlackRock is responsible for financing greenhouse gas emitting sources and militarism around the world.
According to BlackRock's Big Problem, a coalition that includes Amazon Watch, CODEPINK and the Indigenous Environmental Network, BlackRock is a primary investor in organizations contributing to the deforestation of the Amazon.
New York City put BlackRock, which it uses for asset management, under review for possibly straying from minimum climate standards, and BlackRock bragged in February about being a primary investor in fossil fuels.
ASU's claims of BlackRock being a sustainable organization are flat-out...
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