Demonstration: Greenpeace protests against Deutsche Bank fund subsidiary DWS

The environmental organization Greenpeace protested this morning in front of the headquarters of the Deutsche Bank fund company DWS Investment in Frankfurt. With 25 red oil barrels, banners and protective suits, the activists wanted to send a signal against the fund’s investment policy. According to Greenpeace, around 200 liters of oil-like molasses poured out of the barrels, and the banners read, among other things, “No money for climate killers!”

In a study, Greenpeace examined the investments of Germany’s four largest fund companies in fossil energy companies. According to Greenpeace, DWS ranks last in an industry comparison when it comes to implementing promised climate protection measures, it said.

“It is shocking that nine years after the adoption of the Paris Climate Agreement, not a single one of the asset managers examined is pursuing a Paris-compliant investment policy and the worst climate offenders are being blithely financed,” said Greenpeace financial expert Mauricio Vargas.

“Greenwashing” at DWS?

The Deutsche Bank fund subsidiary DWS has long been accused of selling so-called green financial products as “greener” than they actually are – “greenwashing” in other words. It was only at the beginning of February that the public prosecutor’s office searched the DWS premises.

A first search in connection with the allegations took place in May 2022. DWS had always rejected the “greenwashing” allegations. The boss was replaced in June 2022: Asoka Wöhrmann was replaced by Stefan Hoops from Deutsche Bank.

There have also been Greenpeace protests over alleged greenwashing several times: In June 2023, activists from the environmental protection organization climbed onto the canopy of the Deutsche Bank twin towers in Frankfurt and unrolled a banner measuring around 100 square meters with the inscription “DWS obliges to protect the climate !”.