SquareWell’s “Global Review of Say on Climate (SoC) Proposals”* covers the gamut of topics relating to management- and shareholder–sponsored say-on-climate proposals, including the main proponents and/or campaigners promoting SoC and how their demands vary; the number of proposals voted and in play; the most commonly targeted sectors, the variability among management-sponsored proposal climate action plans; voting results; and more. The report, which documents significantly greater support from ISS than Glass Lewis on both management- and shareholder-sponsored proposals, notes similarly divergent views among major institutional investors about SoC. Table 4 of the report summarizes views on SoC expressed by BlackRock, State Street Global Advisors, CalPERS, Vanguard, Legal & General Investment Management, Calvert Research and Management, Norges Bank Investment Management, the NYC Comptroller’s Office, and NY State Common Retirement Fund, and includes links to the relevant sources.
We recently discussed the views of Glass Lewis and ISS here and Vanguard’s views here. BlackRock commented in its Investment Stewardship report, which we reported on last week:
BIS believes these types of proposals have merit at many of the companies at which they were filed. As we do with all proposals, we evaluated each in the context of a company’s existing practices and public disclosures…Looking ahead, more third-party research will be needed to support investors in assessing companies’ climate action plans. BIS will continue to monitor the development of “say on climate” proposals, and we welcome ongoing progress regarding corporate climate policies, ambitions and targets to manage climate risk.
*Request the complimentary report through the firm's website here.
See our recent report: “Say-on-Climate Considerations” and additional resources on our Climate Risk & Disclosure and Shareholder Proposals pages.
This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!