ESG Proxy Vote Alerts
Racial Justice, DEI, Insurance & Climate Change
Below are key votes for the week of May 15-20.
Racial Justice
The Black Lives Matter movement has driven a surge of shareholder interest in how corporations address racial justice. Momentum for action continues to build and proponents filed twice as many resolutions on the topic this year compared to 2021—more than 50. The most common request is for a third-party audit “which assesses and produces recommendations for improving the racial impacts of its policies, practices, products and services, above and beyond legal and regulatory matters. Input from stakeholders, including civil rights organizations, employees, and customers, should be considered in determining the specific matters to be assessed.” A second resolution focuses on companies that have made public statements on behalf of racial justice and asks how they are implementing changes .
- Vote due date: Republic Services 5/15 (Sunday), XPO Logistics 5/17, Mondelez 5/17, Chipotle 5/17, Anthem 5/17, Altria 5/18, Home Depot 5/18.
- Learn more: Growing Support for Racial Justice Audits
- Learn more: Changing Corporate Attitudes on Racial Justice
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI)
Corporations regularly highlight their DEI programs, but critics question how well they work and want evidence in hard numbers. In the spirit of “what gets measured gets managed,” shareholders are asking for slightly different types of quantitative data about workforce composition and diversity recruitment, promotion and retention rates.
- Vote due date: Chipotle 5/17, NextEra 5/18.
- Learn more: Data Transparency Key to Improving Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace
Insurance and Climate Change
Shareholder concern about financing climate change has expanded from banks to insurers. The increase in storms, fires, floods and droughts is costing insurers billions and will cost more as extreme weather continues. Two new resolutions target insurance companies – one asks how their underwriting, insuring and investment activities contribute to GHG emissions and the other asks companies to adopt policies to stop supporting fossil fuel projects. Banks remain in the crosshairs, though: JPMorgan Chase, the world’s top fossil fuel funder, faces two fossil fuel refinancing resolutions.
- Vote due date: JPMorgan Chase 5/16, Hartford Financial Services 5/17, Chubb 5/18.
- Learn more: Insuring Net-Zero Progress
Reminder: The VOTING DEADLINE for all U.S. companies is midnight Eastern Time on the DAY BEFORE the AGM.
Look for our Proxy Vote Alerts every week. Have a great proxy season!