Vanguard S.O.S., a climate change advocacy group, is launching a cable television ad campaign designed to push the financial giant to use its investments to fight climate change.
The 30-second ad will begin airing today on cable stations and streaming television platforms in Chester County, Pa., where Vanguard is headquartered. The ad is designed to warn “Vanguard’s customers of the risk that climate change poses to their retirement futures,” Vanguard S.O.S. said.
The new spot, called “Reaping What They’ve Sown,” is part of a larger ad strategy targeting Vanguard customers and Vanguard employees. “The purpose of the campaign is to shine a spotlight on Vanguard’s role in fueling the climate crisis and urging the company—the world’s second largest asset manager—to improve its climate practices for the sake of its own clients and the planet,” Vanguard S.O.S. said.
The group, an international network of civil society organizations, social movements and financial experts, has conducted a longstanding campaign against Vanguard’s investment practices.
In response to the group’s work, Vanguard has said, “We consider climate change to be a fundamental risk to many companies and their shareholders’ long-term financial success. As an investment manager and steward of our clients’ assets, it’s our fiduciary duty to ensure investors are aware of material risks, and that portfolio companies are taking the appropriate steps to manage and mitigate those risks on behalf of their shareholders.
“We are addressing this important risk by engaging with the companies held in our funds on their climate risk oversight, mitigation and disclosures; through thoughtful investment products that help investors manage certain climate-related risks and opportunities; and through engagement with policy makers, industry regulators and aligned organizations,” the firm continued.
Vanguard S.O.S. said, “Despite acknowledging that climate change is a material risk to investors, Vanguard has failed to release a comprehensive plan that integrates climate risk into its investment strategies.”
The ad uses harsh images of fires, floods and dead gardens to convey the risk of climate change and ends with the warning, “If it’s bad for the environment, it’s bad for your retirement.”
The world stands to lose close to 10% of total economic value by mid-century if climate change stays on the currently anticipated trajectory, and if the Paris Agreement 2050 net-zero emissions targets are not met, Vanguard S.O.S. said. Vanguard has $300 billion invested in fossil fuels, making it the No. 1 or No. 2 biggest investor in fossil fuels worldwide. “Vanguard’s climate actions lag far behind even slow-moving peers like BlackRock and State Street,” the group said.
“The company has done next to nothing to mitigate the risk to safeguard its clients’ long-term investments and take responsibility for continuing to fuel the climate crisis through its investments,” said Roberta Giordano, a representative of the advocacy group, in a statement. “We’re airing this ad where Vanguard’s executives and employees work and live so they are reminded firsthand of the consequences of their decisions. This is part of a larger strategy to engage Vanguard and to educate the firm’s clients about the risks to their portfolios.”