Pressure grows on US companies to act on climate

London, 16 August: Investors filed a record 43 climate-related resolutions with US companies during the 2007 proxy season, according to Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmental groups that helped co-ordinate the shareholder filings.

The resolutions sought greater disclosure from companies about their responses to the climate change issue, or called for companies to set greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, and were filed by state and city pension funds and labour, foundation, religious and other institutional shareholders, managing a total of more than $200 billion in assets.

Fifteen of these resolutions led to positive actions by businesses, leading to shareholders withdrawing their resolutions.

The resolutions that were not withdrawn received a record average voting support of 21.6%, with the highest vote ever on a global warming shareholder resolution of 39.5% for a resolution filed with Allegheny Energy, requesting that the Pennsylvania-based power company produce a report on how it plans to reduce GHG emissions.

"It's clear from these results that growing investor pressure is prompting more US companies to tackle climate change more aggressively," said Mindy Lubber, president of Boston-based Ceres.

Among those companies that addressed investor concerns, oil company ConocoPhillips responded to its resolution by announcing its support for an aggressive mandatory federal policy to reduce GHG emissions, committing to spend $300 million on low-carbon research, including alternative fuels, and agreeing to set a GHG reduction target.

Financial services company Wells Fargo committed to completing GHG assessments of key lending portfolios including agriculture, primary energy production and power generation, while investment and insurance companies Hartford Insurance and Prudential Financial agreed to improve their public reporting and disclosure regarding the potential risks they face from climate change and strategies for mitigating those risks.

Seven resolutions were filed requesting that companies, including ExxonMobil, set specific GHG reduction targets from their operations and products.

These resolutions received strong support, with 31.1% support at ExxonMobil, after investors raised concerns that the company is far behind competitors in addressing climate risks and investing in renewable energy.

"The increasing support for our resolutions shows that investors want greater transparency about climate risks and information about how companies are preparing to meet the challenges and seize the opportunities," said Leslie Lowe from the New York-based Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, an association of 275 faith-based institutional investors that sponsor more than 200 shareholder resolutions each year on major social and environmental issues.