Make Kaiser Permanente’s Retirement Plans Climate Safe
Greg A. Adams, CEO
Your employer-sponsored retirement plan is a powerful tool in the fight against climate change.
Although Kaiser Permanente has adopted environmental goals, as well as achieved carbon neutral status in 2020, many of Kaiser’s retirement plans are not yet climate safe.
Current and former Kaiser employees participate in a variety of retirement plans, such as 401(k)s and pensions. Unfortunately, across tens of billions of dollars in retirement plan assets, Kaiser retirement plan participants are invested in products from Vanguard–one of the world’s largest investors in fossil fuels–and JPMorgan Chase–the world’s largest financier of fossil fuels. This means Kaiser retirement plan participants are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in fossil fuels and deforestation-risk agribusiness, which is the antithesis of Kaiser’s net zero goals and its mission to “improve the health of our members and the communities we serve.”*
Additionally, being invested in companies with known climate risk jeopardizes your financial future. Kaiser has a legal fiduciary duty to look out for your investments’ stability and growth.
Asking Kaiser to make its retirement plans climate safe will help ensure your financial future and the future of the planet.
Sponsored by
To:
Greg A. Adams, CEO
From:
[Your Name]
As a Kaiser Permanente retirement plan participant, I urge Kaiser to create climate safe retirement plans for its current, former, and future employees.
I’m proud to be part of a company that links being a healthcare provider with minimizing environmental impact and improving the environmental conditions in the communities that it serves. But while Kaiser has adopted environmental goals, as well as achieved carbon neutral status in 2020, Kaiser’s retirement plan is not yet climate safe.
Current and former Kaiser employees participate in a variety of retirement plans, such as 401(k)s and pensions. Unfortunately, across tens of billions of dollars in retirement plan assets, Kaiser retirement plan participants are invested in products from Vanguard–one of the world’s largest investors in fossil fuels–and JPMorgan Chase–the world’s largest financier of fossil fuels. This means Kaiser retirement plan participants are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in fossil fuels and deforestation-risk agribusiness, which is the antithesis of Kaiser’s net zero goals and its mission to “improve the health of our members and the communities we serve.”
Additionally, investing in companies with known climate risk jeopardizes my financial future. Kaiser has a legal fiduciary duty to look out for my investments’ stability and growth.
I am asking that Kaiser work with Vanguard, JPMorgan Chase, and all fund managers for its plans to make all Kaiser Permanente retirement plans climate safe. This means ensuring:
1. No funds with investments in companies expanding or financing the expansion of fossil fuel production.
2. Any funds with companies that are major emitters (currently extracting or financing fossil fuels, or driving deforestation) are reducing emissions at a rate in line with the latest climate science.
3. All funds have a commitment to demand science-based climate transition plans from the companies the fund owns and to vote out boards of directors who fail to take appropriate climate action.
Thank you for looking out for the future of your employees and the planet.