Displaying items by tag: shareholder resolutions

Investors have been expressing a growing interest in addressing ESG issues with the filing of a record number of shareholder resolutions to be considered this proxy season. According to As You Sow, the Sustainable Investment Institute and Proxy Impact in the Proxy Preview 2023 report, investors filed 542 shareholder resolutions concerning ESG issues in 2022 that they want public companies to take into consideration. The organization said that the leading concerns were climate change, corporate political influence, racial justice, and reproductive and worker rights. Many of these will be voted on at spring and summer corporate annual general meetings. While politicians are arguing over the merits of ESG investing, “Investors have shown long-term support for companies adopting for net-zero greenhouse gas goals and reporting on the management of climate risks and opportunities,” according to Michael Passoff, CEO of Proxy Impact and co-author of Proxy Preview 2023. He also added that “Shareholder resolutions have always been at the forefront of these efforts — first by educating companies and investors about climate risk and solutions, and more recently by calling for quantitative metrics on greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, alignment with science-based targets, and incorporating climate-risk mitigation into executive compensation packages and company-wide business strategies.”

Finsum:Investors continue to show a growing interest in addressing ESG issues with the filing of a record 542 shareholder resolutions concerning ESG issues in 2022 that they want public companies to take into consideration.

(Washington)

ESG has been doing very well. Not only is it getting more public attention, but it is receiving significant inflows. Well, things are about to change from the corporate and regulatory perspectives as well. The Biden administration’s SEC is preparing to adopt a new policy on shareholder resolutions that relate to things like ESG and social justice. The Trump administration had made it very easy for companies to dismiss such resolutions as “micro management” but the current SEC aims to give them more teeth. While such resolutions—things like demands to report gross carbon emissions, or minority compensation—are not legally binding, they do put management under pressure to answer tough questions and garner a great deal of press.

FINSUM: This is going to compel top management to play ball with shareholders on resolutions they would otherwise love to ignore.