The signal was clear: Do not expect this administration to impede economic growth by adhering to any policy aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It was a stark reversal of the Obama administration’s efforts to curb carbon pollution.

A recent announcement from BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, shows how government’s power as a regulator pales in comparison to market forces.

In a letter to clients Tuesday, the firm’s global executive committee, which includes CEO Larry Fink, wrote that “climate change has become the defining factor in companies’ long-term prospects.” Fink is forecasting a “significant reallocation of capital … sooner than most anticipate.”

In other words, the risks to a company’s bottom line posed by climate change have become significant factors in a company’s investment worthiness. BlackRock will focus on “sustainable” investment options because they have the potential to offer clients better outcomes. The safest, most reliable investments are with companies that are environmentally conscious.

Just like that, climate change emerges from a squishy, often partisan policy debate to become the key factor in how companies are capitalized. It doesn’t matter whether Washington, D.C., regards climate change as settled science or a hoax. Wall Street has spoken. It sees the future and it’s going to put its money into companies that are committed to reducing carbon emissions.

BlackRock isn’t the first investment firm to take this stance. But it’s the biggest, with more than $6.8 trillion under its control. With this week’s announcement, it became the latest global investor to join Climate Action 100+, an initiative to sway companies to be carbon neutral by 2050. With BlackRock on board, total assets under management represented by Climate Action 100+ now top $41 trillion.

“Given BlackRock’s size and influence, their commitment to accelerating engagements with the largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters on climate change sends a powerful signal to companies to reduce emissions, improve corporate governance and strengthen their disclosure,” said Mindy Lubber, a member of the Climate Action 100+ steering committee and CEO and president at Ceres, which advocates for sustainability-minded investors, in a release.

If Blackrock’s stance represents a tipping point, it comes well after the market experienced jitters surrounding investments in fossil fuel production. Energy was the worst-performing sector on the S&P 500 index in 2019. In 1980, the energy industry represented 28% of the index’s value, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). Last year, it represented less than 5%.

With BlackRock and other global firms making investment decisions based on sustainability-related metrics, “going green” is no longer optional. Companies that don’t are going to find it hard to attract investors.

“This dynamic will accelerate as the next generation takes the helm of government and business,” Fink wrote. “As trillions of dollars shift to millennials over the next few decades, as they become CEOs and CIOs, as they become the policymakers and heads of state, they will further reshape the world’s approach to sustainability.”

Carbon polluters should take heed. Wall Street just left you.