Ginny Cleaveland, Deputy Press Secretary, Fossil-Free Finance, Sierra Club, ginny.cleaveland@sierraclub.org, 415-508-8498 (Pacific Time)
WASHINGTON, DC — The world’s second largest asset manager, Vanguard, announced today that it has quit the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM), as well as the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero, saying the groups’ climate change goals had resulted “in confusion about the views of individual investment firms.”
In response to the news, Jessye Waxman, Senior Campaign Representative with the Sierra Club’s Fossil-Free Finance campaign, issued the following statement:
“Vanguard has never been serious about mitigating climate risk in its portfolios or for its clients. The decision to leave the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative is a confirmation of what Vanguard’s intentions have been all along: joining the initiative was just an exercise in greenwashing. Climate-related financial risks aren’t going anywhere. Vanguard's move is cowardly, short-sighted, and places the asset manager even further behind its peers.”
Despite being a member of the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative since March 2021, Vanguard had committed to align less than 5% of its assets under management (AUM) with net zero goals. The Sierra Club has pressured global coalitions like NZAM to ensure its members are truly aligned with climate science and refuse to uphold members’ weak commitments as adequate — including Vanguard’s.
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.