BlackRock launches a Supplier Clean Energy Initiative featuring a digital marketplace to help vendors access renewable electricity, supported by major companies including Microsoft and Meta, in a move to enhance supplier decarbonisation efforts.
BlackRock has launched a Supplier Clean Energy Initiative that will give its vendors access to tools and support intended to help them procure renewable electricity and strengthen their decarbonisation plans. The programme, whic...
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h BlackRock said is being delivered with backing from Microsoft, Visa, Meta and 3Degrees, opens to suppliers across sectors including technology, aviation, telecommunications, healthcare, financial services and legal services.
At the centre of the effort is Supplier REach, a digital marketplace developed by 3Degrees in collaboration with Microsoft. According to the 3Degrees announcement, the platform is designed to help large companies and their suppliers evaluate, compare and acquire renewable energy options across different regions by presenting transparent pricing, tailored procurement pathways and actions to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Supplier REach also seeks to reduce administrative complexity by allowing businesses to consolidate procurement contracts.
BlackRock framed the initiative as an extension of earlier supplier engagement work it launched in 2023, when it began asking key vendors to align with the firm’s carbon reduction expectations and comply with an expanded Code of Conduct covering natural resources. The asset manager said the new programme moves beyond measurement and reduction guidance to provide practical pathways to wind, solar and geothermal solutions. “This new initiative expands our support beyond GHG measurement and reduction strategies, helping interested suppliers voluntarily evaluate and access clean energy options that align with their business needs and regional realities,” Louise Kooy‑Henckel, BlackRock’s managing director and head of sustainable and transition solutions for EMEA, said. “Clean energy can support operational emissions reduction, efficiency, and, in some cases, cost stability amid growing global power demand.”
The announcement sits alongside BlackRock’s longstanding operational commitments. The firm reports it has matched 100% of its global electricity consumption with renewables and is pursuing science‑aligned targets that call for a 67% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030 (from a 2019 baseline) and a 40% cut in Scope 3 emissions from business travel over the same period. BlackRock has also stated it supports “an orderly transition to net‑zero by 2050” and is urging issuers to develop transition plans by 2030.
Industry observers note that the initiative complements BlackRock’s wider activity in clean energy finance and infrastructure. In recent years the firm’s alternative asset vehicles have backed utility‑scale solar and battery projects through financing facilities, increased ownership in commercial solar development, and supported partnerships to develop renewable natural gas projects in the United States. Separately, BlackRock participates in the Climate Finance Partnership, a blended finance vehicle set up with several governments to crowd in private capital for climate projects in emerging markets.
For suppliers, the promise of an accessible procurement platform and data‑driven business cases could help surmount familiar barriers to onsite and offsite renewables procurement, particularly for smaller companies that lack specialist energy teams. According to 3Degrees, Supplier REach aims to make regional cost comparisons and contractual aggregation straightforward, enabling suppliers to present clearer proposals to corporate clients and to accelerate emissions reductions tied to electricity use.
BlackRock and its partners portray the initiative as voluntary and supportive rather than prescriptive, offering options that reflect local grid realities and commercial constraints. The firm’s broader supplier engagement has already signalled expectations for vendors to mirror its emission reduction trajectory; this new offering adds a market‑facing toolset intended to turn those expectations into actionable projects.
As companies face rising electricity demand and pressure from clients and regulators to demonstrate concrete scope reductions, initiatives that combine procurement services, data and consolidated contracting could become more prominent among buyers seeking to scale supplier decarbonisation without assuming all the upfront complexity or risk. BlackRock’s entry into that space aligns with its public commitments on operational emissions and its wider investment activity in renewables and climate finance, though the ultimate impact will depend on supplier uptake, regional energy market conditions and the quality of the projects sourced through the new portal.
Source: Noah Wire Services
