The convergence between more traditional concerns about how companies are governed and social and environmental topics continues. This interest is expressed in proxy season in resolutions about how companies make their social and environmental policy decisions—and who is on the board to do so—as well as in proposals about how companies make themselves accountable to their investors on strategic sustainability issues. This section examines these issues, looking at board diversity, board oversight and sustainability disclosure, links to compensation and proxy voting policies at mutual funds.

There are 44 resolutions about boards, about one-third more than last year; 28 focus on board diversity and another 16 address a variety of board oversight matters. Two dozen concern disclosure—all but two of them asking for sustainability reports, while 20 ask for links between executive pay and different sustainability metrics and just one concerned proxy voting policies at a mutual fund, but it has been withdrawn.