Ho-Hum Support for Climate Proposals at Early Meetings

Several climate-related shareholder proposals went to a vote last week at S&P 500 companies, and most of them failed to garner more than 15% of the vote. While it is unusual for first-time proposals to win high levels of support at annual meetings, the focus on environmental issues among investors and proxy advisors had suggested the groundswell of support seen last year could continue.

Sources urged boards to continue to monitor their peers’ disclosure practices and noted that investors are still ramping up engagement and board accountability tactics. However, last week’s numbers suggest that the socially responsible investors and others who put forward these resolutions may have more of an incremental battle ahead.

…According to public company intelligence provider MyLogIQ, as of last Wednesday, there were some 55 total environment-related proposals included in S&P 500 company proxy statements for 2022 annual meetings. As of press time, 14 had gone to a vote, 11 of them just last week. Official results were not available for most of the proposals. But based on numbers from the few 8-Ks that have been filed so far this year and the scant preliminary data furnished by companies, only one of the 14 received majority support.