Climate Activists Pray At Protest At Vanguard In Malvern

MALVERN, PA — An estimated 30 Philadelphia-area Quakers staged a silent worship service Wednesday at the entrance to Vanguard’s headquarters, sitting on chairs behind a banner on the grass saying “Vanguard Invests in Climate Destruction.”

Event organizers said as the world’s largest investor in fossil fuels Vanguard can influence companies in its portfolio to transition from climate destruction and towards decarbonization.

Vanguard said its economists have been researching the impact of climate change for decades. Vanguard’s 2022 report on climate change is available here.

"We continue to pursue research efforts such as this to educate our clients about the ways climate change may affect economic growth and the value of their investments over the long term," the report stated.

The protest Wednesday

The prayer service is part of an ongoing global Vanguard S.O.S. campaign.

“By taking worship from our Quaker meeting houses to Vanguard’s doorstep, we’re honoring what has already been lost to environmental destruction and committing to return to Vanguard until it takes significant, meaningful action on climate change," Lina Blount, director of Strategy and Partnerships at Earth Quaker Action Team, wrote in a prepared statement.

The Quaker team has held similar protests for the last two years.

In September 2022, eight climate activists were cited with defiant trespassing after refusing to leave the outside of Vanguard's campus.

In April 2023, 16 protestors were charged with trespassing at the Tredyffrin and East Whiteland entrances of Vanguard.