FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 14, 2022
Billboard Seen Near Vanguard Headquarters Calls Out Company’s Continued Investments in Climate Destruction
Malvern, PA – Today, a new billboard reading “Investing in Climate Destruction. That’s the value of your asset manager.” was put up on route 202 just five miles from Vanguard’s headquarters. Vanguard is the world’s second largest asset manager and as of June 2021 had over $300 billion in fossil fuels and billions more in companies driving deforestation. In 2022 it actually increased its investments in coal.
“Vanguard is the biggest climate laggard in the investment industry and its refusal to tackle its climate problem is simply irresponsible,” said Roberta Giordano, Finance Campaigner for The Sunrise Project, a key partner in the Vanguard S.O.S campaign. “Vanguard’s employees and customers need to know about the climate destruction and human rights abuses that Vanguard invests in.”
The billboard, which mimics Vanguard’s recent advertising campaigns, directs people to a website where they can fill out a survey to receive more information on their asset manager’s climate problem. In recent months hundreds of Vanguard clients have been organizing to demand more sustainable investments from their asset manager, the survey will allow clients and Vanguard employees to get involved in the effort.
In May, Vanguard announced the worst climate targets of any major asset manager when it released its “initial commitments” as a member of the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative.
“Vanguard is willfully burying its head in the sand,” said Giordano. “The necessary and inevitable transition to clean energy could cause major financial losses for anyone who stays invested in fossil fuels, but Vanguard wants to continue business as usual while the climate disaster grows and the finance industry changes around it.”
Vanguard S.O.S., launched in April, is a global campaign network of civil society organizations, social movements, and financial experts pushing Vanguard to chart a new course toward truly sustainable and responsible investing.
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For more information or interviews contact:
Myriam Fallon, myriam@sunriseproject.org, 708.546.9001
Photos are available to download here