Advisory: Climate Rally at Goldman Sachs Shareholder Meeting

8:30am CT Wed 4/26: Climate advocates to hold rally, press conference for environmental justice
Contact

Ginny Cleaveland, Deputy Press Secretary, Fossil-Free Finance, Sierra Club, ginny.cleaveland@sierraclub.org, 415-508-8498 (Pacific Time)

DALLAS, TEXAS — The annual general meeting for Goldman Sachs takes place on Wednesday, April 26, in Dallas. Climate advocates with the Sierra Club, Texas Campaign for the Environment, Hip Hop Caucus, the Vessel Project of Louisiana, and For a Better Bayou will hold a rally and press conference outside the annual meeting to draw attention to the bank’s continued financing of fossil fuels, despite its climate pledges.

WHAT: Climate rally and press conference outside the Goldman Sachs annual general meeting

WHO: Climate advocates with the Sierra Club, Texas Campaign for the Environment, Hip Hop Caucus, the Vessel Project of Louisiana, and For a Better Bayou. Speakers at the press conference include:

  • Stephone Coward, Director of Economic Justice, Hip Hop Caucus
  • TBD: Dan Chu, Executive Director, Sierra Club Foundation
  • Misti O’Quinn, Beyond Coal Dallas Organizer, Sierra Club
  • Ariana Akbari, Volunteer, Sierra Club 
  • James Hiatt, Director, For a Better Bayou

WHEN: Wednesday, April 26, beginning at 8:30 a.m. CT / 9:30 a.m. ET. The rally will take place from 8:30-9:30 a.m. CT and the press conference will take place from 9:30-10:30 a.m. CT. 

WHERE: The rally and press conference will take place outside the annual meeting, which is happening at the Fairmont Dallas, 1717 N Akard St, Dallas, TX. (Google Map)

ONLINE: The press conference will be live streamed at https://www.facebook.com/ABetterBayou 

WHY: Goldman Sachs is one of the world’s largest financiers of fossil fuels. According to the annual Banking on Climate Chaos report, in the last 7 years, Goldman Sachs poured $145 billion into fossil fuels, and $9.9 billion in 2022 alone. Goldman Sachs continues to bankroll fossil fuel despite committing more than two years ago to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 for the projects it finances. By continuing to provide new financing for fossil fuel expansion, Goldman Sachs is undermining our ability to meet our climate goals, contradicting its own climate pledges, and committing environmental racism by giving billions of dollars to LNG projects to export fracked gas in disproportionately Black, Indigenous, and low-income communities across the Gulf Coast.

Goldman Sachs is one of the largest financiers of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in the world, which causes irreparable harm to the environment, climate, and environmental justice communities. This includes providing financing to companies like Venture Global, the company behind the proposed Plaquemines LNG export facility in Louisiana, which would be one of the largest fracked gas export terminals in the US. A June 2022 report by the Sierra Club analyzes the facility’s potential impact on the environment, climate, and nearby communities.

At its annual meeting, Goldman Sachs faces several investor proposals calling on the bank to do better on climate, including a proposal from the Sierra Club Foundation demanding that it commit to a time-bound phase-out of new fossil fuel exploration and development, a proposal from As You Sow demanding that it create a transition plan to align its financing activities with its 2030 emissions reduction targets, and a proposal from the New York City Comptroller demanding that it disclose its absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets for 2030.

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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.