Read more about
Market forces are moving steadily toward long-term sustainable growth—but the radical right continues to try to silence shareholder voices.
The news has been loaded with stories detailing the campaign to undo our progress, meanwhile our direct engagements with corporations and the data we collect tells a very different story. Companies are listening to their shareholders who demand a livable future—they’re watching long-term market trends moving toward clean energy, zero waste, and justice.
Your partnership with As You Sow means you’re utilizing one of the only proven methods to counter attacks on democracy and the freedom to invest.
This year alone, your support resulted in dozens of new commitments from some of the world’s largest companies. You’re directly empowering As You Sow to resist the campaign to suppress information and prevent investors from considering risk in their portfolios. Thank you for standing with us. As You Sow remains a staunch defender of the rights of investors to use their money to make positive change.
We can be certain that the ferocity of these attacks on shareholder advocacy are the best proof of its effectiveness.
Market forces still eclipse political theater…
The radical right is learning the limits of federal power to stop the clean energy transition. In 2024, 96% of new energy added to the U.S. grid was from carbon-free sources and more than 40% of the world’s electricity came from low-carbon sources. That’s the market—not politics—pricing the future in real time.
Amidst the churn of hyper-partisan news cycles, it’s easy to miss the incredible change your support is making:
This year, we held 137 shareholder engagements spanning all our issue areas, including Climate and Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Social Justice, Circular Economy (consumer packaging, single-use plastics), Biodiversity, and Environmental Health (pesticides/regenerative agriculture, PFAS).
And the results were dramatic…
Amazon replaced 95% of its plastic air pillows with recycled paper
First Solar pledged not to purchase minerals mined from the deep seabed
Hormel formed a working group to get corporations to help pay for recycling facilities
J. M. Smucker agreed to reduce pesticide use in its supply chains
Keurig is reducing plastic waste by 20% by introducing reusable K Cups
McDonald’s pledged to publish a reusable plastic assessment
Mission Produce discontinued purchasing avocados from illegally deforested orchards
Nike, Lululemon, and VF Corp committed to new actions to prevent microfiber shedding
From the Ground Up: Shareholders have a voice in regenerative agriculture
In a recent webinar and report, As You Sow commended PepsiCo, McCain Foods, and Lamb Weston for requiring the reduction of toxic synthetic pesticides as part of their regenerative agriculture programs. Though many companies claim to support regenerative agriculture, our report found most are still falling short in actual data collection. Shareholders are setting the bar for companies making real pesticide reductions.
Clean energy can power the AI boom
The growth of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers is triggering a wave of fossil fuel expansion, but As You Sow’s new report co-authored by Sierra Club shows the AI boom can actually help advance the clean energy transition.
For example, Google is pioneering power utility agreements that allow it to shift AI workloads between data centers to reduce electricity use during peak demand. Meta, by contrast, has proposed a data center powered largely by new natural gas plants that would consume enough electricity to power 1.5 million homes.
Fossil fuel-heavy mutual funds are a dinosaur
The anti-ESG showcase fund DRLL has lagged the market since inception and has been negative over the last 12 months, even as the S&P 500 posted 19% gains. This attempt to make a political point is failing spectacularly—at a cost to investors who fall for political narratives detached from market realities.
Employees are moving billions away from fossil fuels
We estimate 401(k) participants have now shifted about $2 billion away from fossil fuels simply by choosing a green fund option. 75% of US employees say they’d prefer to invest in a sustainable fund.
Visit investyourvalues.org to see if your retirement portfolio is contributing to climate change, weapons manufacturing, private prisons, and our newest pillar—Social Justice Funds which was released at the end of October, merging Racial Justice, Workplace Diversity and LGBTQ+ scores.
The attacks are fierce and relentless. We will continue to fight for shareholder rights.
But not without you.
The data and our direct engagements show us that the power of the market can overcome today’s prevailing political winds. Will you make a gift today and ensure shareholders continue to have a voice in the corporations they own?
The proof is in the pushback—Exxon cited As You Sow in its recent press release announcing a proxy voting scheme that compels shareholders to automatically and permanently give their votes to management. They are afraid that all of you will sign up for My Money My Vote and cast your retail proxy ballots for a livable planet, sustainability, and justice.
The radical right appears unstoppable, yet we have our finger on the pulse of deeper forces: the free market, the long-term vision of investors, and the duty to maximize outcomes for all stakeholders. At this moment, we must not let biased rhetoric convince us that positive change is no longer possible; we see it happening every day.
Thanks to you, we continue to demonstrate the power of shareholder advocacy. Together, we’re standing up for democracy and a future we can believe in. Will you ensure this work continues with a gift today?
