Key Takeaways
- • The Carlyle Group disclosed approximately $24 billion in fossil fuel investments in its February 2022 SEC annual filing, positioning it among the largest fossil fuel portfolios held by diversified private equity firms, according to analysis by LittleSis and the Private Equity Stakeholder Project.
- • Private equity executives, including Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein, are deploying billions in fossil fuel assets while simultaneously donating millions to prestigious cultural institutions and universities—a strategy characterized as reputation management or "greenwashing" that masks the climate impact of underlying portfolio companies.
- • The Private Equity Stakeholder Project, in partnership with LittleSis and Climate Nexus, launched the CleanupCarlyle.org campaign on March 24, 2022, targeting Rubenstein's leadership positions at The Kennedy Center, the National Gallery of Art, and the Harvard Corporation, calling for his removal from these boards.
- • The broader private equity industry has pumped hundreds of billions of dollars into fossil fuel companies with minimal public scrutiny, creating tension between stated climate commitments and actual capital deployment in carbon-intensive energy assets.
Summary
The Private Equity Stakeholder Project released a campaign on March 24, 2022, exposing what it characterizes as a disconnect between private equity's climate rhetoric and its substantive investment in fossil fuels. The Carlyle Group, one of the world's largest diversified private equity firms, disclosed approximately $24 billion in fossil fuel investments in its February 2022 SEC annual filing—a disclosure made amid intensifying United Nations warnings about accelerating climate crisis risks.
The campaign, dubbed "Cashing in on Climate Chaos: CleanupCarlyle.org," builds on earlier research titled "Private Equity's Dirty Dozen: 12 firms dripping in oil and the wealthy executives who run them," produced collaboratively by LittleSis and the Private Equity Stakeholder Project. This research identifies Carlyle as holding one of the largest dirty energy portfolios among diversified private equity operators, raising questions about the alignment between portfolio construction and public climate commitments.
A central focus of the campaign is David Rubenstein, Carlyle Group co-founder, who holds significant leadership roles at major cultural and educational institutions including The Kennedy Center, the National Gallery of Art, and the Harvard Corporation. The campaign argues that Rubenstein uses substantial philanthropic donations to these institutions to cultivate an image of climate-conscious leadership while maintaining control over billions in fossil fuel assets. This practice—described as greenwashing—effectively allows executives to rebrand themselves as environmental stewards while their capital continues funding carbon-intensive energy companies.
The Private Equity Stakeholder Project, in partnership with Climate Nexus, is leveraging the CleanupCarlyle.org platform to expose what it views as systemic misalignment between private equity's stated environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments and actual capital allocation. The campaign calls for the removal of Rubenstein from his board positions at the three named institutions, positioning this as a necessary step to establish institutional integrity around climate accountability. The broader context includes evidence that the private equity industry collectively has deployed hundreds of billions of dollars into fossil fuel companies with limited public transparency or accountability mechanisms.
The campaign, dubbed "Cashing in on Climate Chaos: CleanupCarlyle.org," builds on earlier research titled "Private Equity's Dirty Dozen: 12 firms dripping in oil and the wealthy executives who run them," produced collaboratively by LittleSis and the Private Equity Stakeholder Project. This research identifies Carlyle as holding one of the largest dirty energy portfolios among diversified private equity operators, raising questions about the alignment between portfolio construction and public climate commitments.
A central focus of the campaign is David Rubenstein, Carlyle Group co-founder, who holds significant leadership roles at major cultural and educational institutions including The Kennedy Center, the National Gallery of Art, and the Harvard Corporation. The campaign argues that Rubenstein uses substantial philanthropic donations to these institutions to cultivate an image of climate-conscious leadership while maintaining control over billions in fossil fuel assets. This practice—described as greenwashing—effectively allows executives to rebrand themselves as environmental stewards while their capital continues funding carbon-intensive energy companies.
The Private Equity Stakeholder Project, in partnership with Climate Nexus, is leveraging the CleanupCarlyle.org platform to expose what it views as systemic misalignment between private equity's stated environmental, social, and governance (ESG) commitments and actual capital allocation. The campaign calls for the removal of Rubenstein from his board positions at the three named institutions, positioning this as a necessary step to establish institutional integrity around climate accountability. The broader context includes evidence that the private equity industry collectively has deployed hundreds of billions of dollars into fossil fuel companies with limited public transparency or accountability mechanisms.
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