Fund manager BlackRock announced Tuesday several new initiatives with a focus on sustainable investing, including holding companies and boards more accountable where they are not making enough progress on sustainability-related disclosure.

“Climate change has become a defining factor in companies’ long-term prospects,” BlackRock CEO Larry Fink wrote in his annual letter to chief executives. “I believe we are on the edge of a fundamental reshaping of finance.”

Jaclyn Jaeger is a freelance contributor to Compliance Week after working for the company for 15 years. She writes on a wide variety of topics, including ethics and compliance, risk management, legal,...