New York, NY – The investment firm Vanguard ignored meeting requests with Amazonian Indigenous leaders and fishing representatives from Peru, whose livelihoods are threatened by Petroperú, a state-owned Peruvian oil company in which Vanguard is a bondholder. The delegation is traveling to Vanguard headquarters in Malvern, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, November 16, 2022. They will be joined in solidarity with local activists, demanding Vanguard listen to the message from Indigenous leaders.
Photos of leaders for press use here (credit: Amazon Watch)
The Peruvian delegation, composed of Nayap Santiago (Wampís Nation), Nelton Yankur (Achuar people), and Carlos Chapilliquen (Cabo Blanco Fishing Association), are currently in the United States to speak with financial institutions about their continued financing and investments in extractive oil and gas companies that undermine biodiversity, the environment, and their communities’ health, food, and water security. One of these institutions invited for a meeting includes asset-management firm Vanguard, which holds Petroperú bonds.
Beginning in early September, Amazon Watch, on behalf of the delegation, requested a meeting with top representatives of Vanguard, including the CEO and head of investment stewardship, and indicated a willingness to travel to the company’s headquarters in Malvern, Pennsylvania. A letter from Achuar and Wampis leaders outlining the adverse impacts of Petroperú investments was included with the meeting requests. Despite multiple meeting requests over the course of three months, Vanguard did not respond.
“The Peruvian state oil company Petroperú can operate because financial institutions such as Vanguard buys its toxic bonds. We are traveling to Malvern, Pennsylvania, to tell Vanguard that its business impacts us. Vanguard must break ties with Petroperú immediately! It can no longer purchase toxic bonds that are destroying the Amazon rainforest and our planet. Instead of financing oil companies that harm communities, Vanguard should adopt a comprehensive Indigenous rights policy respecting Indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination. We ask the asset manager to take action now!”
Peruvian Federation of Achuar Nationalities (FENAP)
Vanguard, the second-largest asset manager in the world, plays a crucial role in providing investment dollars to fossil fuel and other extractive companies that devastate Amazonian communities, local communities around the world, and the global climate. The company was responsible for investing $300 billion in investments in fossil fuels and $104 billion in the world’s “most devastating new fossil fuel projects” in 2021 alone. Additionally, the company fails to respect the self-determination of communities by lacking a robust Indigenous rights policy and the inclusion of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) in its policies. Furthermore, Indigenous leaders call on Vanguard to listen to their demands by adopting a robust Indigenous rights policy and severing ties with Petroperú as well as other oil and gas projects around the world that fuel climate change.
“Vanguard cannot continue doing business as usual! We ask Vanguard to adopt an Indigenous rights and deforestation policy because our lives, water, and rainforest are at stake. Until it takes concrete steps, it remains complicit in the destruction of the Amazon and our livelihoods. Vanguard should know that it is financing an oil company that is notorious for Indigenous rights violations, environmental pollution, and corruption. By investing in Petroperú, Vanguard is taking on major financial risk. It can no longer purchase toxic bonds that are destroying the Amazon rainforest and our planet.
Nayap Santiago, The Wampis Nation
