BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, supported less than 2% of environmental and social (E&S) shareholder proposals at portfolio companies during the 2025 proxy season, according to its latest voting spotlight report.
The firm said it voted on 358 E&S proposals globally, including 266 in the United States. Of these, it backed only seven — five on company impacts on people and two on climate and natural capital. BlackRock’s support for such proposals has declined for four consecutive proxy seasons, from over 40% in 2021 to 21% in 2022, 7% in 2023, 4% in 2024 and now under 2% this year.
Shareholder support more broadly has also waned. Average backing for E&S proposals fell to 14% at S&P 1500 companies in 2025, down from 33% in 2021, according to Ernst & Young. The number of proposals filed also declined this season.
BlackRock attributed the decline partly to fewer filings by advocacy groups and changes to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s no-action process mid-season. It argued that many of the proposals were “overreaching, lacked economic merit or sought outcomes unlikely to promote long-term financial value,” adding that most addressed risks companies already had processes in place to manage.
The firm reported rejecting 249 E&S proposals on the grounds that companies had adequate procedures, 112 for being too prescriptive and 33 for lacking economic merit. Some proposals were rejected for multiple reasons.
Among 70,000 votes cast on director elections, BlackRock rejected 74 nominations (0.1%) at 62 companies due to concerns over inadequate climate-related disclosures or board oversight. Overall, it supported around 90% of board nominations.
Governance-related shareholder proposals, however, attracted higher levels of backing. Of 764 proposals voted on globally, 406 related to governance, with BlackRock supporting 74. These often involved strengthening minority shareholder rights, such as adopting simple majority voting. Globally, median market support for governance proposals stood at 35%.
BlackRock reiterated in its report that its role is to vote in clients’ long-term financial interests rather than to influence corporate strategy directly, noting it does not file proposals, disclose votes ahead of meetings or coordinate with other investors.
The firm’s stance comes as it faces mounting political scrutiny. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and nine other states have sued BlackRock, alongside Vanguard and State Street, alleging the three colluded to “rig the oil market”. A federal judge recently allowed the case to proceed, though several state-level consumer protection claims against BlackRock were dismissed.
