For example, proposals that focused on cutting emissions across a company’s supply chain found a warmer reception than those that set specific deadlines for companies to phase out of fossil fuel projects, the report states. (Andrew Behar, CEO of leading shareholder activist group As You Sow, has also acknowledged that “tougher” proposals were a hard sell this year.) Read More →
Read MoreBut some disagree. “We don’t think there needs to be a differentiation, 90% of Exxon’s emissions are scope 3,” says Andrew Behar, CEO of shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, “If scope 3 are the majority, we’re most interested in that.” A few fossil fuel giants, including Exxon Mobil (XOM), will be facing resolutions on scope 3 disclosure this year. Read More →
Read More“This creates a highly resistant environment to shareholders filing a shareholder proposal – you need to be a major asset owner to have a voice in Europe,” Andrew Behar, CEO of non-profit shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, tells ESG Investor. Unlike in the US, once filed, shareholder proposals in the UK are subject to achieving a majority vote and are binding. “In the US, we got a 96% majority vote last year and the company told us to take a hike,” says Behar. Read More →
Read More“If you’re a universal owner [of shares in companies across the economy] and you look at your portfolio, there are a small number of bad actors that harm the whole portfolio,” said Andrew Behar, CEO of the shareholder group As You Sow. Read More →
Read MoreClimate change issues will continue to dominate the hundreds of shareholder resolutions proposed at US companies in 2023, according to the Proxy Preview report released March 22 by advocacy groups As You Sow, Sustainable Investments Institute and Proxy Impact. Read More →
Read MoreProxy Preview 2023, an annual report published today (22 March) by shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, in conjunction with the sustainable non-profit Sustainable Investments Institute (Si2) and ESG shareholder aggregator Proxy Impact, reveals that anti-ESG resolutions are on the rise this year, although they remain dwarfed by the number of shareholder resolutions in support of ESG aims. Read More →
Read MoreSo far, there have been about five such proposals filed with banks over their transition plans for achieving their stated goals, said Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow. And insurance companies are increasingly being asked to set targets – resolutions have been brought at Chubb and Berkshire Hathaway, for example, she noted. Read More →
Read MoreThough the proportion of withdrawals is similar to past years, the sheer number is higher because of the record 610 resolutions filed this year, said Heidi Welsh, the executive director of the Sustainable Investments Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that tracks shareholder activism.
“I do think this means that many companies were willing to discuss the issues with proponents, and the result of this engagement was win-win on both sides,” Welsh said. Read More →
Read MoreThe bill doesn’t yet have any Democratic co-sponsors so its future is uncertain. Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy organization, says it is unlikely the bill will pass. Instead, he thinks it’s a “warning shot” to BlackRock, State Street, and Vanguard to start to vote differently. Read More →
Read MoreIn this podcast we speak with Andrew Behar, CEO of the non-profit As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy non-profit that focuses on corporate social responsibility. We discuss the current proxy season and how accounting, auditing and financial disclosure practices fit into their approach to engaging with public companies. Read More →
Read MoreA 2022 proxy preview released by shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, the Sustainable Investments Institute and Proxy Impact counts a record 529 shareholder resolutions on ESG issues such as climate change, human capital and diversity, board quality and more.
Read MoreA review of top US companies from the Sustainable Investments Institute and partners As You Sow and Proxy Impact identified 34 majority votes this year for proposals regarding environmental, social and corporate governance, or ESG, issues. That's well above last year's record of 21 (and the number could keep growing). Read More →
Read MoreAlready this AGM season, a majority of American Express investors voted in support of a shareholder resolution filed by NGO As You Sow, which asks the company to report on how its internal workplace practices align with its stated commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion. Read More →
Read MoreRoughly 20 companies face such proposals this year, including eight banks, Johnson & Johnson, Foot Locker and Monster Beverage, according to the 2021 Proxy Preview produced by Si2, As You Sow and Proxy Impact. In short, the resolutions ask these companies to report on how their business practices harm people of color and what they plan to do about it. Read More →
Read More“2020 showed us that ‘business as usual’ no longer exists. Shareholder proponents expect escalated action and not just words,” Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow and publisher of the report, said in a statement. “The 2021 proposals offer ideas for transforming the deep-rooted challenges that threaten businesses and the entire global economy, including climate change and systemic racism.” Read More →
Read MoreThe joint effort from As You Sow, Sustainable Investments Institute and Proxy Impact found that of 435 shareholder resolutions already filed, about 300 are headed for votes at spring corporate annual meetings. Read More →
Read MoreTimed to the 2020 Annual General Meeting (AGM) season, shareholder advocacy non-profit As You Sow filed seven shareholder resolutions, on behalf of individual proponents, that specifically requested material disclosure compliant with environmental and social corporate reporting standards published by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). Read More →
Read MoreBlackRock Inc. shocked Wall Street in January when CEO Larry Fink announced that the wealth mammoth was overhauling its investment strategy and putting sustainability at its core. Read More →
Read MoreContinuing a recent trend that began in the 2019 proxy season, Berkeley, California-based proponent As You Sow has once again come to an oil and gas company operating on the Gulf Coast to request that it report on the public health risks of expanding petrochemical operations in the environmentally risky region.
Read MorePhillip Goldstein, a co-founder of Bulldog Investors LLC, wrote the SEC in March to urge the agency to stop a potential move by companies to opt out of the rule by only allowing votes on shareholder proposals that have been approved by a company board… Other stakeholders such as Andrew Behar, the chief executive officer of the non-profit organization As You Sow, says worries about excessive shareholder proposals are overblown. Read More →
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