Climate Groups Press Banks, Asset Managers to Sever Russian Ties
The activists are referring to the financiers as the “Putin 100.”
Demonstrators hold a "Stop Putin" banner during a protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine outside the European Union consulate in Caracas, Venezuela.
Photographer: Carolina Cabral/BloombergA coalition of more than 75 climate change-focused nonprofits want the biggest names in banking and fund management to “stop propping up Putin’s illegal war on Ukraine” by severing all financial ties with Russian energy companies.
The organizations, which include Sierra Club and Rainforest Action Network, have requested 100 financial institutions — a group it’s calling the “Putin 100” — put an end to the financing, investing and insuring of companies in Russia's coal, oil and gas industries, and to divest from existing holdings. The letter was sent to firms including JPMorgan Chase & Co., BlackRock Inc and Citigroup Inc.
Financial firms are scrambling to respond to Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, the worst military conflict on the European continent since World War II, as sanctions pile up and a growing number of companies walk away or distance themselves from Russia. Scores of fund managers, from Abrdn plc to DWS Group have said they’ll stop investing in Russia for the foreseeable future and expressed solidarity with Ukraine, though critics say investors could do a lot more to cut off the dollars feeding the fossil fuels that power Russia’s war machine.