Faith Investors Demand Accountability on Indigenous Rights ahead of Citi and Wells Fargo AGMs

Investor nuns and Baptists will hold major banks accountable over their impact on Indigenous communities through resolutions at next week’s annual shareholder meetings (Tuesday, April 29).

The investors will demand that Citi and Wells Fargo demonstrate that their policies and practices are effective in respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights—a critical issue that both banks have failed to address during the four years of proposal filings.

In contrast, JPMorgan Chase has recently made progress on its Indigenous Peoples’ rights commitments, following ongoing dialogue with investors, leading to the withdrawal of a similar proposal at JPMorgan this year. The bank disclosed that it considers free, prior, and informed consent —a fundamental aspect of Indigenous Peoples’ rights—before proceeding with transactions that may pose risks to Indigenous Peoples, and that this applies to their general corporate financing, in addition to their project financing. This represents a significant step in ensuring that Indigenous Peoples’ rights are not violated through banking financing. Investors are now asking: Why can’t Citi and Wells Fargo do the same?

The lead filers of the proposals, the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace and the American Baptist Home Mission Societies, succeeded in facing down both banks’ attempts to silence their shareholder proposals after the SEC ruled in March that they should go to investors for a vote. 

Citi, one of the largest financiers of oil and gas operations in the Amazon rainforest, has been under scrutiny for funding companies linked to oil spills and human rights violations, including Petroperú, PetroAmazonas, and Frontera Energy. Despite Petroperú’s history as a major polluter in the Peruvian Amazon, Citi participated in a $1.3 billion syndicated loan and has acted as a solicitation agent for $3 billion in bonds for its Talara Refinery. Groups argue that this debt incentivizes more crude production in Amazonian blocks where Indigenous peoples have staunchly opposed oil activities, translating to legal risks. 

Oil extracted from these blocks will also likely travel through Petroperú’s North Peruvian Pipeline–which has had at least 139 oil spills from 1997 to 2023. The pipeline remains a source of contamination, environmental degradation, and health risk for communities. In October 2024, the pipeline leaked over 6,000 liters of oil in the Peruvian Amazon, threatening Indigenous Quechua and Achuar peoples. 

Meanwhile, Citi’s report on “Respecting the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” remains vague and lacking in meaningful analysis, and has not assuaged investors’ concerns. The continued violations and environmental harm demonstrate that the report does nothing to address or resolve these critical issues.

Similarly, Wells Fargo’s financing decisions are under scrutiny amidst its recent decision to abandon climate commitments, including its net-zero target. The bank has provided over $3.86 billion in funding to Enbridge, which is attempting to develop the Rio Bravo gas pipeline through the ancestral lands of the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of South Texas, without their consent and despite fierce community opposition. 

Additionally, Citi and JPMorgan have agreed to disclose their energy finance ratios, yet Wells Fargo has failed to do so and will face another shareholder resolution on this issue at the upcoming AGM. 

Last year, the resolutions addressing Indigenous Peoples’ rights received support from one in four investors at both Citi and Wells Fargo, with the proposal at JPMorgan securing 30.8% support, reflecting a growing demand among investors for banks to align their policies with internationally recognized standards on Indigenous rights and climate accountability. 

As these shareholder resolutions continue to gain momentum, investors are making it clear that they expect meaningful action from banks to respect Indigenous Peoples’ rights, reduce their financing of harmful projects, and address the climate crisis.

QUOTES

Sister Susan Francois, CSJP

“Proposal 6 simply asks Citi to report how they are respecting the human rights of Indigenous Peoples in their financing efforts. Without transparency, investors cannot effectively evaluate the bank’s exposure to regulatory, legal, and reputational risks.”

“As faith-based investors, we are called to care for creation and uphold the dignity of all people. Specifically, Pope Francis has named the moral imperative to include Indigenous Peoples in projects involving significant changes in environment or high levels of contamination on their lands. Citi has a duty of care to ensure that its investments do not violate Indigenous Peoples’ rights. It is common sense, good business, and the right thing to do.”

Gina Haas, American Baptist Home Mission Societies (ABHMS)

“We continue to file this resolution at Wells Fargo because meaningful change is still urgently needed. As investors, we demand transparency, accountability, and for Indigenous Peoples’ rights to be respected. Supporting this proposal is not only a moral obligation but a sound business decision. We urge investors to stand for Indigenous rights and vote in favor of this resolution.”

Hannah Saggau, Senior Climate Finance Campaigner at Stand.earth, said:

“Shareholders should take note that if JPMorgan Chase, as the world’s largest fossil fuel funder, can strengthen its policies to respect Indigenous Rights, then Wells Fargo and Citi must, too. From Turtle Island to Amazonia, we are holding banks accountable for climate chaos and violating Indigenous sovereignty. Wells Fargo and Citi must steer clear of any deals that make them complicit in rights violations.”

Olivia Bisa, President of the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Chapra Nation

“Major investors and financiers, such as Citigroup, have generated an insurmountable oil debt in our country, Perú. Now, the pressure to pay this debt continues to push our government to open new oil blocks in our Amazonian territories and in the oceans, creating conflicts among us who legitimately oppose oil activities, which have brought disease and destruction.”

Mary Mijares, Corporate Campaigns Manager, Amazon Watch

“To truly respect Indigenous rights, Citi must directly listen, understand, and meaningfully address the concerns of Indigenous peoples who repeatedly endure and persist against its oil clients that promote life-threatening fossil fuel projects, especially in the Amazon basin. Citi’s bold claim that it has sufficiently addressed Indigenous rights concerns should unnerve its shareholders, as the situation for oil-impacted Indigenous communities on the ground remains difficult–worsened by already existing bank fossil financing.”

Kate Finn, Executive Director, Tallgrass Institute

“Banks must ensure a comprehensive approach to client relationships that respects all of the rights of Indigenous Peoples while safeguarding investors from operational, reputational, and legal risks that stem from clients’ violations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Explicit recognition of Indigenous Peoples’ rights as enshrined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), including the right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC), is integral to that endeavor.”

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