As You Sow recommends that companies aim to make at least 5% of the total “performance shares” in their CEO’s long-term incentive plan relate to climate goals. Performance shares are an incentive-based form of stock compensation paid to executives for meeting certain benchmarks. “It can’t be so small in comparison to other payouts that it would not incentivize action,” says Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of As You Sow. Read More →
Read MoreCurrently, many of these bonuses are shrouded in vague language, according to US-based nonprofit As You Sow, which focuses on investor issues ranging from climate change to gender inequalities. “We want to know that executives aren’t simply being rewarded, for instance, for climate metrics they’ve already met,” said Danielle Fugere, As You Sow’s president and chief counsel. Read More →
Read More‘Mining the deep sea for battery-related minerals will create irreversible habitat and ecosystem loss, with the risk of permanently destroying invaluable carbon storage,’ As You Sow states. ‘A commitment or clarification on deep-sea mining from Tesla and [GM] would signal to shareholders and the auto industry that they acknowledge the importance of careful action as vehicle electrification accelerates in the US and abroad.’ Read More →
Read More“We’re putting that much money into a dirty carbon climate-harming type of energy…why?” said Danielle Fugere, President and Chief Counsel of As You Sow, which works with companies to advance clean energy and sustainability goals. Transitioning fossil fuel subsidies to the clean energy sector can be as easy as setting the national intention, she said. Read More →
Read MoreDanielle Fugere is president and chief counsel of As You Sow, one of America’s most prominent nonprofit shareholder advocacy groups. As You Sow nudges the largest U.S. public companies toward adopting the green practices their investors want to see. Read More →
Read MoreDanielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of the environmental advocacy group As You Sow, argued that California's enactment of Senate Bill 253 will "shore up" the SEC's draft proposal. "There's been a lot of discussion around whether Scope 3 requirements will be removed from the SEC's proposal," Fugere said, adding that she is hopeful that the California measure "will help the SEC stand firm." Read More →
Read MoreInvestors at Bank of America, Goldman Sachs, and Wells Fargo also voted on a first-time resolution filed by shareholder representative As You Sow asking them to provide climate transition plans for achieving their 2030 net-zero GHG emissions reduction goals. That measure fared slightly better and was endorsed by about 30% of shareholders.Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel at As You Sow, said she was pleased with the result. “Roughly a third of investors supporting the proposal indicates that the companies should be responsive,” she said. “It’s a first-year proposal, so we think this is very strong.” Read More →
Read More“Banks are fundamental to changing the direction of climate change,” said Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of As You Sow, a shareholder advocacy nonprofit that has filed shareholder resolutions asking Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs to disclose transition plans describing how they intend to align their financing activities with their 2030 greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. Read More →
Read More"I don't ever like to say this, but it feels a little bit like window dressing — that they are attempting to convince investors that they're taking action," says Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow. "But because they aren't measuring, they aren't disclosing, we don't have a way to measure the effectiveness of those actions." Read More →
Read MoreThe resolutions were filed by activist shareholder group As You Sow, which the Republicans suggested had targeted Vanguard over its withdrawal. As You Sow President Danielle Fugere said that was not correct as the group had filed similar resolutions last year, before Vanguard's December action. Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow President Danielle Fugere was pleased that Chubb is focusing on climate change but questioned how committed the insurance company is when it will not disclose its own or customer emissions. "Chubb's own reporting will not answer that question," Fugere said in a statement. Read More →
Read MoreThe timing of Chubb's move ahead of the proxy season, when investors consider climate proposals, was likely intentional, said Danielle Fugere, the president and chief counsel of As You Sow, a group that targets insurers with shareholder campaigns. Read More →
Read MoreDanielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of As You Sow, an advocacy group, said that Citi is "a leader among other banks" when it comes to climate commitments. As You Sow has filed climate-related shareholder proposals at Citi and other banks. Read More →
Read MoreDanielle Fugere, As You Sow’s president, discussed the non-profit’s engagement strategy: “We have been engaging with the banks for some time… asking them to measure their emissions and disclose their target setting. We didn’t file at all last year with banks, but have returned this year to work with them to find agreement on what would be an appropriate transition plan.” Read More →
Read More“Banks have made significant progress over the last five years, but they need to set policies and be more transparent about how they are reaching their climate goals,” said Danielle Fugere, president of activist shareholder As You Sow, which is part of the group that filed the resolutions. 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 MoreFor lead, that will mean changes in harvesting and manufacturing practices, says Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow. Such practices could include minimizing soil contact with beans as they lie in the sun, and drying beans on tables or clean tarps away from roads or with protective covers, so lead-contaminated dust won’t land on them. Another option is finding ways to remove metal contaminants when beans are cleaned at factories, Fugere says. Read More →
Read MoreAll these issues are related. Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow, explains that most companies put employees who don’t choose specific investments into target-date funds for their retirement plans. (This is why they’re called the “default” option.) Such funds “are fairly high in high-carbon companies such as oil and gas,” Fugere says. In the past, companies have argued that Erisa prohibited them from addressing issues like climate change. A Trump-era rule previously banned consideration of ESG issues in decisions related to default options. Read More →
Read More“Politics should be separate from markets,” said Danielle Fugere, president of shareholder advocacy group As You Sow. “The world is transitioning towards a greener economy, and markets are adjusting to that. It is absurd for lawmakers to think that they’re going to put a stop to that progress. It would be detrimental to U.S. businesses.” Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow focuses on environmental and climate issues but has waged investor campaigns or gone to court on several food-related issues. The nonprofit group and the National Confectioners Association released a report in August identifying growing and harvesting conditions for cacao beans that led to toxic heavy metals lead and cadmium in chocolate. Read More →
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