Activists cheer BlackRock's landmark climate move but call for vigilance

Divestment decision by the world's biggest fund manager called a breakthrough - but only a first step

In recent decades, environmentalists have grown used to disappointment when big companies and Wall Street pay lip service to concern over the climate crisis. On Tuesday, it looked like something might have changed.

The decision by the private equity giant BlackRock - the world's biggest fund manager - to exit investments that "present a high sustainability-related risk" has been welcomed by environmentalists as a significant moment in the battle to reshape the relationship between money and the climate crisis.