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Passing the Baton: Shareholder resolutions & their contribution to investor climate pledges

New report shows growth of "climate target-setting" in shareholder resolutions & their potential to cascade investors' climate pledges to companies

Key Findings

1

We analysed over 7,500 resolutions and identified 500 as climate-related

2

From 2006-2019, over 150 shareholder resolutions involving some form of requirement to set climate target or a related business plan were introduced

3

Explicit references to the Paris Agreement are on the rise, with 11 resolutions pushing for consistency with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement

4

For the first time, in 2018, 3 companies subsequently adopted these targets. While the analysis does not prove causality, it represents a first step in understanding the potential impact of engagement.

These figures show the potential of resolutions to turn words into actions, “passing the baton” from investors who committed to aligning their portfolio with Paris goals to their investees. They illustrate the need to further organize and engage in collective shareholder actions, such as the Climate Action 100+ coalition. They also reveal the gap: among 500 climate-related resolutions, only 11 resolutions requested consistency with a 2°C pathway or better. Given the recent investor pledges, we expect Paris-aligned resolutions to rise dramatically in the next few years.

Funder information: This report has received funding from EIT Climate-KIC.