Superheroes Appear in Malvern, Calling on Vanguard to Invest Sustainably
Concerned About Incoming Administration’s Climate Record, Creative Protest Reignites Campaign Targeting #1 Investor in Fossil Fuels
Malvern, PA – Today, over 30 people of faith, climate activists, and Vanguard customers gathered to take part in an unusual scene: wearing superhero capes and masks, they sang, danced, and marched to Vanguard’s headquarters in Chester County. They were there as part of a global campaign, Vanguard S.O.S., which has been active since 2021 and is calling on Vanguard, the world’s largest investor in fossil fuels, to invest sustainably. Vanguard security staff, accustomed to climate change protests at the corporate campus, laughed amongst themselves and recorded videos as protestors performed a dance, showing Vanguard CEO Salim Ramji how to meet the campaign’s demands.
Participants, largely feeling urgency after the results of the recent election for President, House, and Senate, also used this protest to support each other and affirm their sense of community. A local somatics teacher, Katy Hawkins, led the group in a grounding exercise and then participants shared stories of their personal heroes to inspire each other.
Protest organizers shared that, in light of the election results and the implications for the government’s role in contributing to climate change, Vanguard and other corporations have all the more responsibility to shift their businesses to be more sustainable.
With features like the dance and banners calling on Salim Ramji to “be a climate hero,” this protest had a special focus on Vanguard’s recently-appointed CEO. Campaigners hope the appointment of Ramji as CEO indicates that corporate leadership is taking the risks of climate change more seriously than before. While Ramji was an executive at BlackRock, the asset manager significantly expanded its offerings of climate change-focused funds.
Campaigners claim that, with about $444 billion dollars of its customers’ savings invested in coal, oil, and gas, Vanguard should use its influence as a powerful shareholder to push the companies it invests in to do better on environmental issues, and to exit its investments in fossil fuel companies that refuse to transition their businesses to be in alignment with no more than a 1.5 degree global temperature rise. Shockingly, this year, Vanguard did not support any of the 400 environmental or social shareholder proposals its stewardship team voted on.
Contact: Eve Gutman, eve@eqat.org
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