Last Friday, as people in 26 countries across the globe took action targeting banks, insurers, and investors, we showed up at Vanguard’s headquarters to tell the company, “Defund climate chaos!” 

Photo by Rachael Warriner

It’s clear that Vanguard heard our message loud and clear. Singing “Lead With Love,” we marched up to Vanguard’s entrance, where we rallied, heard from speakers about the very real stakes of Vanguard’s tremendous investments in fossil fuels, and tried to deliver a letter to Vanguard’s CEO, Tim Buckley. 

Vanguard refused to receive the letter and instead called local police on us. But we wanted to make our message perfectly clear, so we took time to hold Quaker worship and speak out of silence, write messages in chalk on Vanguard’s driveway, and sing one more time. 

Photo by Rachael Warriner

We need Vanguard to deal with its climate problem, starting with publicly releasing concrete plans for rapid decarbonization of its investment offerings, consistent with science-based guidelines and targets. We will continue to show up and put pressure on Vanguard because the urgency of the climate crisis makes it ever clearer than business as usual is not acceptable. 

Do you want to get more involved in the Vanguard’s Very Big Problem campaign? Please join our next general meeting or new volunteer interest session -- you can see all of our upcoming events here. 

And make sure to check out the recent coverage of the Vanguard’s Very Big Problem campaign in the Philadelphia Inquirer here and here!

Photo by Rachael Warriner

P.S. Are you a Vanguard customer? Please let us know, so we can keep you informed of special opportunities to take action collectively as Vanguard investors. You can read more about our plans here.