STMP – results

Earlier this week, Citi, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs held their annual general meetings. This was a major opportunity for us to communicate to the banks that they need to get serious about ending their support for companies expanding fossil fuels ― and they heard us loud and clear.

Resolutions urging the banks to stop funding fossil fuel expansion received 12.8% of the vote at Citi, and 11% at Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and Goldman Sachs. While the numbers may seem low, this is in fact a big deal: 11% of Bank of America’s shares represent $33 billion in investment capital. When that much money talks, banks listen.

There was also an important resolution in front of Citi and Wells Fargo, demanding that the banks respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights. That resolution received 26% of the vote at Wells Fargo and 34% of the vote at Citi.

These results come after weeks of work from all of you ― calling and emailing asset managers, State Treasurers, and other major investors to get them to vote yes. Over the past few weeks, we’ve generated over 500 calls and 20,000 emails to our targets.

In fact, continued pressure and advocacy helped ensure that not only did the pension funds of New York State, New York City, and Seattle vote yes on the resolutions. But they also publicly called on other pension funds to do the same.

But big banks didn’t just hear about the demand for no expansion from their shareholders – activists across the country made our demand impossible to ignore:

In New York, activists crashed a sustainable financing panel attended by Citi and Chase and flyered the hotel where the panel took place, to make sure guests knew about Citi and Chase’s greenwashing.
A day later, XR-NYC activists shut down Citi’s headquarters.
On the day of Citi’s AGM, a coalition of groups came together to demand an end to funding for fossil fuel expansion
In San Francisco, twenty people were arrested occupying Wells Fargo’s headquarters demanding they #DefundClimateChaos
In Charlotte, people rallied outside of the Bank of America headquarters during their annual general meeting, demanding they stop funding fossil fuel expansion and toxic petrochemical projects such as Formosa Plastics
Jewish climate activists took action at an additional 21 bank branches across the country – from Florida to Pennsylvania to Illinois, banks heard loud and clear the call to stop funding fossil fuels!

We’re so awed by the incredible amount of action, creativity, and momentum our movement has been able to build. Together, we can stop the flow of money to fossil fuels, and win a just, more sustainable world.

In solidarity,
– Arielle, Stop the Money Pipeline team

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