Shareholder scrutiny of corporate offsetting strategies is growing as the voluntary carbon market (VCM) grows, with projections it may be worth $50 billion annually by 2030. Carbon offset advocates believe the VCM incentivizes critical investments in mitigation and adaptation, even as global efforts fail to deliver on emission reduction targets. Yet companies can face reputational and litigation risks for participating in the VCM given credibility questions. Companies can reduce the risks associated with purchasing voluntary credits by aligning their strategies with best practices and procuring third-party verified high-quality credits.
Read moreThe Anti-ESG Shareholder Proponents
Shareholder proponents who oppose most of the ideas supported by ESG investors have been around for a long time, but in the last two years they have filed many more proposals and a few new players have emerged.
Read more2023 Update on SEC Shareholder Proposal Rules and Guidelines
Recent efforts of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Staff to create a more objective and efficient process for handling shareholder proposals have borne fruit in 2023, resulting in a 30 percent reduction in company-filed challenges to shareholder proposals. Clearer guidelines from the Staff have made it possible for shareholders to draft more defensible proposals.
Read moreShareholders and Local Communities Join to Demand Racial and Environmental Justice
Often, companies have no “business-case rationale” to listen to the communities negatively affected by their operations and no incentives to act. As shareholders, we have legal standing to engage the executives and boards of these public companies.
Read moreCompanies Taking a Closer Look at How Racial Inequity Affects Their Workers, Customers and Shareholders
The third anniversary of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police officers is fast approaching. We are reminded of the work we began nearly three years ago by filing Racial Equity Audit (REA) shareholder proposals and how much work remains. The police killings of Black people across the U.S. continue to galvanize the movement for racial justice, and corporations continue to be held accountable socially and legally for their role in furthering the economic and political repression of nonwhite communities.
Read moreESG Triggers the Right
Republican politicians are placing ESG on the list of grievances and conspiracies they serve up to their base as they try to turn ESG into the next critical race theory (CRT). One activist who was instrumental in convincing the Republican base that CRT is an ominous threat to their existence is heavily involved in the anti-ESG effort.
Read moreInvestors Expect Science Based GHG Targets and Reporting
Shareholders in 2023 are tightly focused on resolutions asking companies to establish science-based greenhouse gas reduction targets that cover the full value chain of emissions—and to report on them. The science is clear that companies need to rapidly act to reduce emissions to limit global warming to a 1.5°C increase in warming.
Read moreRecord Number of Proposals Address Threats to Reproductive Health Care
Investors working with Rhia Ventures filed a record 30 proposals this proxy season to advance comprehensive and reproductive health care, double the number from the 2022 proxy season. The subject matter of the proposals expanded from last year’s focus on risk mitigation and political spending misalignment to include a number of new areas of concern that have intensified since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in June 2022.
Read moreMajority Votes on Deforestation Put Pressure on Industry Laggards
Shareholder concern about deforestation speaks for itself. Four majority votes on Green Century proposals in the last three years – Bunge, 99 percent; Bloomin’ Brands, 76 percent; Procter & Gamble, 67.6 percent; and Home Depot, 64.6 percent – build upon dozens of no-deforestation agreements that shareholders have won and have helped curb climate change and preserve endangered species around the world.
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