New BlackRock Sustainability Leader to Boost EMEA Growth
Finance giant BlackRock has appointed Louise Kooy-Henckel as its new EMEA Head of Sustainable and Transition Solutions (STS).
The company said in its announcement: “Louise brings over 25 years of expertise in asset management and sustainable investing. She will lead our efforts in sustainable and transition investing in the EMEA region, working closely with partners from across the firm.
“Louise brings strong product development experience across public and private markets and will help deliver investment insights to clients on topics such as the energy transition, physical climate risks and resilience.”
About Louise Kooy-Henckel
Louise began her career at State Street in 1996 before joining J.P. Morgan Asset Management in 1997.
She spent nearly 20 years at the company, including as Managing Director of its Global Equities team.
Beyond her role at Wellington Management, Louise now also serves as Non-Executive Director at Pensions for Purpose, an organisation that connects asset managers with pension funds to facilitate impact investment.
This experience positions her to understand the growing demand for sustainable infrastructure investment, which will inevitably impact the firm’s strategic data centre investments across the EMEA region.
Notably in 2024, BlackRock acquired Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) to accelerate its digital infrastructure developments. The move made the firm one of the largest infrastructure investment firms in the world and was designed to help businesses scale to meet the demands of digital infrastructure.
In her new role at BlackRock, Louise will report to Helen Lees-Jones, Global Head of Sustainable and Transition Solutions and will be based in London.
"Louise brings strong product development experience across public and private markets and will help deliver investment insights to clients on topics such as the energy transition, physical climate risks and resilience," BlackRock adds.
BlackRock’s sustainable investment platform, which manages US$1tn in assets, has increased its focus on data centre operators transitioning to renewable energy sources. This includes investments in energy infrastructure and carbon capture technologies.
Its transition investment strategy encompasses Paris-aligned benchmarks, green bonds and custom decarbonisation mandates. Likewise, the firm has committed US$1bn to electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure globally in efforts to support the broader push toward electrification of transport and data centre backup power systems.
Roughly 1,000 of BlackRock’s investment funds have been screened to constrain investments by avoiding issuers or business activities within certain environmental, social or governance (ESG) characteristics.
Europe holds its net zero focus
An internal BlackRock memo reveals that all of its largest European client relationships have made organisational net zero commitments.
From a data centre perspective, it highlights how operators and businesses are facing increasing pressures to address the environmental concerns of their infrastructure.
BlackRock's investment strategy includes significant funding for carbon capture and storage pipeline projects, which could provide crucial support for data centre operators seeking to reduce their carbon footprint.
In January 2025, the firm recently withdrew from the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative, which subsequently suspended its activities for review. The initiative, which promotes investment aligned with net zero emissions goals, has removed its commitment statement and signatory list from its website.
In a letter to clients, BlackRock explained that its NZAM membership “caused confusion regarding BlackRock's practices and subjected us to legal inquiries from various public officials.”
“We are disappointed to see any investor withdraw, but as a voluntary initiative, we respect any individual decisions signatories take,” NZAM states. “Climate risk is financial risk. NZAM exists to help investors mitigate these risks and to realise the benefits of the economic transition to net zero.”
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