Greenpeace has again taken the “greenwashing” allegations against the Deutsche Bank fund subsidiary DWS as an opportunity for a protest action. Early on Wednesday morning, activists from the environmental protection organization climbed onto the canopy of the Deutsche Bank twin towers in downtown Frankfurt, within sight of the DWS headquarters. According to a Greenpeace spokesman, eleven activists were on the canopy in the morning. There they unfurled a banner measuring around 100 square meters with the inscription “DWS commit, protect the climate!”.
According to Greenpeace, the reason for the action was the general meeting of DWS this Thursday (June 15). “Greenwashing is structurally anchored at DWS. As the majority shareholder, Deutsche Bank has a duty to end DWS’ climate-damaging business practices,” said Greenpeace finance expert Mauricio Vargas in the statement. Greenpeace also protested against DWS in March of this year and in October 2022.
It’s about the so-called “greenwashing”
The asset manager DWS is accused of having sold so-called green financial products as “greener” than they actually are – “greenwashing” in other words. The investigation was initiated by former DWS sustainability officer Desiree Fixler with public criticism of her former employer. At the beginning of last year, the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office began investigations against employees and those responsible at DWS on suspicion of capital investment fraud.
DWS had always rejected the “greenwashing” allegations. In June last year, however, the boss was replaced: Asoka Wöhrmann was replaced by Stefan Hoops from Deutsche Bank.
In his previously published speech at this year’s DWS Annual General Meeting, Hoops said about the “greenwashing” allegations: “DWS has been working actively, openly and transparently with the authorities since the investigations began. The clarification of the allegations and the conclusion of the external investigations have management continues to be a top priority.”
Deutsche Bank said: “Sustainability and climate protection are a strategic priority for Deutsche Bank. This applies to all business areas and thus also to our majority stake in DWS.” DWS noted that it had recently adopted a policy on dealing with coal companies and was “assessing the need to introduce further policies, including an oil and gas policy.”
