Wells Fargo Dodges Accountability on Legal Risks, Energy and Indigenous Rights at Annual Meeting

SAN FRANCISCO (Chochenyo and Karkin Ohlone Lands) — Shareholders at Wells Fargo’s 2026 annual general meeting today voted down three key proposals around the bank’s litigation risk, energy financing and Indigenous Peoples’ rights record. The failure of these resolutions signals that under the Trump administration, banks and their shareholders are bowing to pressure to ignore the material risks posed by climate change and human rights violations.

“Wells Fargo is completely disregarding the mounting risks of pouring billions into fossil fuels,” said Hannah Saggau, Senior Climate Finance Campaigner at Stand.earth. “Despite the Trump regime’s attempts to pull the wool over our eyes, climate, transition, and Indigenous rights risks are real and material. If the bank and its institutional shareholders choose to ignore these threats to gain political favor, they will suffer the legal and financial consequences.”

Wells Fargo is one of the largest fossil fuel financiers on the planet, with a track record of underfunding renewable energy. Last year, the bank became the first bank in North America to  abandon its 2030 and 2050 financed emissions reduction targets, as part of its Net Zero pledge.

Bank executives faced a series of sharp questions from shareholders about its racist practices—from discriminatory mortgage lending to Indigenous rights violations—and exposure to climate risk, including financial and legal risks. CEO Charles Scharf dodged accountability in his answers, referring shareholders to the bank’s risk management policies while failing to address investor concerns.

Three key climate and Indigenous rights proposals up for a vote were:

• Climate Litigation Risks (Item 8): Filed by As You Sow, the novel proposal requests a report on climate-related litigation risks tied to the bank’s high-carbon financing activities, following Wells Fargo’s decision last year to drop its net zero and other financed emissions reduction targets.

• Indigenous Peoples’ Rights (Item 9): Filed by Investor Advocates for Social Justice and American Baptist Home Mission Societies, the proposal calls for a board-level committee to oversee the company’s management of impacts to Indigenous Peoples resulting from its financing.

• Energy Financing Ratio (Item 7): Filed by the New York City Comptroller’s office, the proposal requests annual disclosure of Wells Fargo’s ratio of low-carbon to fossil fuel energy supply financing, which peers JPMorgan Chase and Citi have already disclosed. Wells Fargo’s average ratio from 2021–2024 was just 0.19:1 — among the lowest of any global bank — when alignment with global climate targets requires a ratio of 6:1.

Wells Fargo is also a major financier for companies with a record of violating Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including $4.4 billion in financing for Enbridge from 2021-2024. Enbridge has repeatedly developed fossil fuel projects in violation of impacted Indigenous communities’ rights, including Line 3, Line 5, and the Rio Bravo Pipeline, which is currently proposed despite opposition from the Carrizo-Comecrudo Tribe of South Texas.

“By pouring money into Enbridge, Wells Fargo is enabling the ongoing destruction of sacred land and refusing to listen to Native Peoples,” said Dr. Christopher Basaldú, co-founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network and Carrizo Comecrudo Tribal Nation member. “Since its founding in 1852, Wells Fargo has consistently profited from genocide and colonization. We demand the bank surrender all assets to Native Nations they’ve harmed and dissolve itself.”

The votes come amid growing pressure on the bank related to its climate rollbacks, racist lending practices, and union-busting record. A new report published by The Americans for Financial Reform’s Education Fund found evidence of racial discrimination in the bank’s lending practices, with the bank denying mortgage applications from Black, Latino, and Asian applicants at twice the rate of white applicants in North Carolina. Workers demonstrated outside of the bank’s Charlotte office in response to the findings.

“We continue to file this resolution at Wells Fargo because meaningful change is still urgently needed,” said Gina Haas, Director of Investment for the American Baptist Home Mission Societies. “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.”

“Wells Fargo stands out from other banks in one area: its notorious record of perpetuating discriminatory and predatory practices that violate basic human rights,” said Sarah Lasoff with Stop the Money Pipeline. “Whether it’s through their racist lending practices or their financing of new fossil fuel projects that fuel climate chaos, time and again, we see Wells Fargo failing to act in ways that support a healthy, sustainable future for all of us. As a major distributor of capital, Wells Fargo needs to wake up to the realities of today in which people, no matter their race, origin, or status in a company, deserve respect and a livable and economically stable future.”

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Media contact:

Cari Barcas, Communications Director, Stand.earth, cari.barcas@stand.earth, +1 312 720 7940 (English / Eastern Time)