Climate science is clear on the need to reach net-zero global GHG emissions by mid-century to limit global warming to 1.5°C and to avoid the most devastating impacts of climate change to communities and the natural world. Net-zero commitments matter to investors because they provide a long-term market and policy signal, reduce regulatory uncertainty, create opportunities for innovations, and give investors confidence that they are developing strategies to address climate risk. Climate Action 100+ was initiated in December 2017 to support 161 companies that are systemically important in the transition to net zero emissions by 2050 or sooner. More than 500 investors, responsible for over $52 trillion in assets, are now part of the initiative. 

Investors in partnership with leading researchers developed the Climate Action 100+ Net Zero Company Benchmark, which provides investors and the market a tool to assess company commitments around governance, disclosure, and targets, aiming to reduce emissions and avoid climate risk. The benchmark builds on the TCFD recommendations with more guidance on specific company actions and the most relevant disclosures for investors’ decisions. Investors working through Climate Action 100+ now seek more robust and comparable information on how focus companies are realigning their business strategies and operations to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and a net-zero emissions future.  The tool’s metrics will help promote and inform investment and stewardship decisions that create long-term value for investors’ beneficiaries. 

To test whether the Benchmark could be an effective engagement tool, As You Sow and Rights CoLab worked together to file five resolutions requesting disclosure against a variety of its indicators. Four resolutions targeted CA 100+ focus companies.  Four resolutions are pending as of this writing at General Electric, General Motors, Caterpillar, and the refiner Valero Energy. Another, filed with Twitter, asks for broad disclosure compliant with the Benchmark at a technology firm that has never reported on the GHG emissions its data centers generate.

The Caterpillar resolution requests broad disclosure compliant with the Benchmark.  At GE, the request is to comply with the Benchmark indicator for a net-zero target for Scope 3 emissions.  At GM and Valero, it asks for a report on the Benchmark indicator that measures the connection of executive compensation to climate change performance. Last year, As You Sow, Rights CoLab, and Ceres collaborated on resolutions requesting that companies disclose a variety of Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) indicators.  After BlackRock CEO Larry Fink’s early 2020 annual letter to clients asked for SASB reporting, the resolutions garnered some of the highest shareholder votes of 2020. This year, Larry Fink’s annual letter focused on climate change and asked companies “to disclose a plan for how their business model will be compatible with a net-zero economy…by 2050.” With major investors aligning their engagement priorities to the CA 100+ Benchmark, we are hopeful for another round of successful resolutions.

Morgan LaManna
Senior Manager, Investor Engagements, Ceres 

Paul Rissman
Co-founder, Rights CoLab