*

Backs 4% of environmental, social shareholder resolutions

*

Support compares with prior year's 6.7% support

*

Total support 11% from 9% driven by governance issues

(Adds context in paragraph 3, quote from Morningstar in

paragraph 8, background in paragraphs 6-7)

By Simon Jessop

LONDON, Aug 21 (Reuters) - BlackRock ( BLK ), the

world's biggest asset manager, cut its support for shareholder

proposals linked to environmental and social issues to a fresh

low of 4.1% in the most recent annual general meeting season, it

said on Wednesday.

Despite the number of environmental and social-related

proposals increasing year on year to 493 from 455, BlackRock ( BLK )

said most had been rejected for much the same reasons as in

previous years.

In 2023 it supported 6.7% of such proposals, down sharply

from its support for 47% of resolutions in 2020-21, though the

number of resolutions filed with companies since that high water

mark had risen sharply.

"In our assessment, the majority of these (proposals) were

over-reaching, lacked economic merit, or sought outcomes that

were unlikely to promote long-term shareholder value," said its

"2024 Global Voting Spotlight" report.

"A significant percentage were focused on business risks

that companies already had processes in place to address, making

them redundant."

BlackRock's ( BLK ) handling of these and governance-related issues,

together dubbed ESG, has faced fierce criticism in recent years

from a group of U.S. Republican politicians, who have accused

various companies of engaging in "woke capitalism".

Against that backdrop, and ahead of the next AGM season,

BlackRock ( BLK ) had said it would push boards on their financial

resilience, but that a company's success would also depend on

how it handled issues such as the world's transition to a

low-carbon economy.

SUSTAINABILITY RISKS

The drop in support may appear to be "marginal", said

Lindsey Stewart, director of investment stewardship research at

industry tracker Morningstar Sustainalytics, "but it means the

firm supported 10 fewer E&S proposals this year compared with

the last, despite the number of resolutions rising."

Also driving the number lower were the growing number of

resolutions aimed at forcing companies to roll back their plans

to manage sustainability risks, including retooling their

operations to be in line with global climate goals.

BlackRock ( BLK ) said it did not support any of the 88 proposals

that fell into this category.

In total this year it supported 20 proposals. Of them, four

were related to climate and natural capital, concerning

disclosures at Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK/A ), Denny's Corporation

, Jack in the Box and Wingstop ( WING ).

More broadly, BlackRock's ( BLK ) support for shareholder

resolutions increased to 11% from 9% - or 99 out of 867 against

71 out of 811 in the prior year - driven by the firm's backing

for more governance-related resolutions.

"The proposals we supported sought to enhance minority

shareholders' rights, for example, by introducing simple

majority voting. Market support for governance proposals also

increased relative to last year," it said.