Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) - Activists from the environmental protection organization Greenpeace protested on Tuesday morning in the entrance area of the building of the Deutsche Bank fund subsidiary DWS. Their demand "Exit Fossils!" ("Raus aus den Fossilen") they spray-painted in red letters under the company logo in the entrance hall, over which they let oily black drops run down.
"We protest against DWS' radical inaction and broken climate promises," said Mauricio Vargas, Greenpeace's finance expert. Although DWS has committed itself to the 1.5 degree target, there is no climate plan to achieve this. Greenpeace has therefore developed an exit plan with guidelines for dealing with coal, oil and gas companies in a climate-friendly manner. "In order to remain credible, DWS must consistently exclude unreasonable climate sinners," said Vargas.
DWS said the company agrees with Greenpeace that climate change requires immediate action, but not the environmentalist path. "While Greenpeace calls for immediate exits from certain companies, as custodians of our clients' funds, we are mindful of the potential long-term and holistic economic and societal impact of an immediate exit," it said in a statement. By investing in oil companies, DWS, as a large shareholder, has the opportunity to put pressure on the companies and strive for improvements.
Since the beginning of this year, the Frankfurt public prosecutor's office has been investigating employees and managers at DWS on suspicion of capital investment fraud. Investigators searched the building at the end of May. The background to the measure were "greenwashing" allegations.
