NEW YORK CITY, New York: BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, has told the UK Environmental Audit Committee that its role was not to "engineer a specific decarbonization outcome in the real economy," stressing that it will not stop investing in coal, oil and gas.

The response was part of tens of statements from companies to the committee, which is investigating the role of financial institutions, including UK signatories to the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero.

Their responses were published on the UK government's website.

Responding to a question by the committee as to whether it supported a net-zero scenario that called for "no new investment is needed in coal, oil, and gas," BlackRock said, "No."

BlackRock, which manages assets worth about $8 trillion and has a market value of $85.65 billion, said, "BlackRock's role in the transition is as a fiduciary to our clients, it is not to engineer a specific decarbonization outcome in the real economy."

Larry Fink, head of the New York Stock Exchange-listed company, has defended its energy investments from criticism from many sides in the debate on low-carbon fuels.

"BlackRock is developing tools that help our investors and clients assess how the transition is likely to unfold, and to support clients' navigation of the transition and, for those who choose, to accelerate it," he said.

Republican U.S. politicians have accused BlackRock of boycotting energy stocks, but environmentalists also claim that it does too little to press for change at fossil fuel portfolio companies.

Asked by the UK committee about its policy on retiring its fossil fuel assets, BlackRock said that it expected to remain long-term investors on behalf of clients in carbon-intensive sectors.