Hundreds of Extinction Rebellion protesters have been arrested for civil disobedience in recent weeks; Greta Thunberg was a favorite for the Nobel Peace Prize; numerous governments have declared climate emergencies — all part of a worldwide call to action in the battle against global warming. Unfortunately, this energy and sense of urgency is not shared by the institutions most responsible for the impending climate catastrophe: the world’s largest corporations and their powerful investors.

Despite BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s 2018 letter to CEOs imploring companies to “serve a social purpose” and the Business Roundtable’s promise to value all stakeholders, a recent study found that just thirteen shareholder proposals on environmental issues reached a vote at companies in the S&P 1500 Index in the past year. Findings just released by the Guardian show that big-money managers such as BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street “used their votes to frequently oppose efforts to improve climate-related financial disclosures.”

Shareholder resolutions aren’t legally binding, of course, but the idea that “shareholder governance” — particularly through the leadership of large fund managers — can pressure companies to adopt sustainable practices has seen renewed excitement.