Capitalismmustchange to avertclimate change, according to thevice-chair of the worlds largest asset manager, Blackrock.

Two weeks ago, Blackrock boss Larry Fink shook thecorporate worldwith a letterdemanding social responsibility in return for the support of his company, which manages around $6 trillion in assets.

On Wednesday at the annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Philipp Hildebrand expanded on that theme in a discussion of fiduciary duty the responsibility to make clients the best return on their investments.

The concept was evolving to showfailure to factor inenvironmental, social and governance factors would be a breach, he said, calling on academics to look more deeply at the issue. The European Commission recently launched a public consultation calling for contributions from the financial world.

We will hopefully demonstrate that at a minimumthere is not a negative trade-off and there may even be better performance, said Hildebrand.

That would mean funds like Blackrockcould become duty-bound to consider environmental risks such as climate change while making investments. It would create a dramatic shift, he said, butwarned it would take time.

We have to be realistic, we also have an enterprise to run, we have shareholders, this is a complicated story. Nobody is served by reducing this to very simple, fast things that we have to do immediately.

We have to change capitalism. This is really whats at stake here. And frankly we need a new contract between companies, investors and governments, saidHildebrand.

Former US president Al Gore, who was on the panel with the Blackrock executive, agreed that the field of research was still evolving.

But he said: In 26 sectors of the economy, the vast majority of them, the companies that integrate ESG (environmental, social and governance) into their business plans perform better.

He added: For many years investors and asset managers have said well I would like to invest with attention to these things, but my fiduciary duty to my clients keeps me from doing it.

The revolutionary change is that now it may be becoming clear that if you do not integrate these factors into your investing, youre violating your fiduciary responsibilities.

Blackrocks activist rhetoricon climate change and sustainability is not new. In 2016, Fink called on companies to consider climate risk.

Last year, Blackrock hired Brian Deese, a former senior advisor to president Barack Obama, to head up its $195 billion Sustainable Investing group. Deese was a key advisor to the president on climate and part of the US team that negotiated the Paris climate accord.

Critics note that most of Blackrocks money is inpassive funds, limiting its ability toshapethe market by divesting from unsustainable businesses.

The investorhas other ways of exerting pressure, though. Last year it backed a shareholder resolution forcing oil giant Exxon Mobil to report on its exposure to climate risks.As a shareholder, it can also vote for board members.

This article originally appeared on Climate Home News. on 25 January 2018