After the Business Roundtable released its Statement on the Purpose of the Corporation in August 2019, suggesting an end to the era of shareholder primacy in favor of a more inclusive type of stakeholder capitalism, shareholder proponents pounced with questions about its implementation . They have since woven references to the CEOs’ commitments into many shareholder proposals. A new group, The Shareholder Commons, is coordinating 20 new proposals this year, in the most important fresh development regarding sustainable governance proposals. Also new this year are proposals asking for board oversight of workplace equity, which is in keeping with the diversity focus of many expanded shareholder campaigns this year.

This section looks at proposals about diversity on the board, proposed changes to board committees and the various suggested ways in which executive compensation might be linked to social and environmental concerns. At this point almost no proposals ask for wide-ranging sustainability reports since most companies produce such disclosures, even if report quality varies. What remains contested, however, is the extent to which financial firms should take sustainability concerns into account in their proxy voting policies; the rising votes for resolutions are clear evidence that market-moving mutual funds are looking beyond their traditional focus, and proponents are eagerly courting more decisions, which can push their proposals more firmly on the agenda of the companies they engage.