The latest climate proposal stats from annual shareholder meetings

Here is a summary from this “Climate Change Report” from SquareWell with statistics covering both management proposals and shareholder proposals on annual meeting shareholder agendas:

– Of the 291 climate-related shareholder proposals filed at 153 companies over the 5-year period, nearly 60% were aimed at US companies.
– Financials and Energy sector companies have been the top industry targets in terms of the number of proposals received, at nearly 40% and about 20%, respectively, of all climate-related proposals in 2022, and 28% and 19%, respectively, of all climate-related proposals over the 5-year period.
– More proposals were filed in 2022 than in the prior years (79 proposals compared to 69 in 2021); however, the number of proposals supported by a majority of shareholders declined to 12 proposals in 2022 from 17 in 2021, and the number of proposals withdrawn was the lowest over the 5-year period. Just 14% of proposals (40 proposals) voted from 2018 – 2022 have garnered majority shareholder support (15% in 2022).
– Proposals seeking companies’ adoption and disclosure of GHG reduction targets and reporting on financing activities more than doubled year-over-year, while other climate-related asks declined.
– More than one-third of proposals approved by shareholders from 2018 – 2022 sought companies’ adoption and disclosure of GHG reduction targets or reporting on alignment of business strategy with constraints posed by climate change.
– Average shareholder support declined for most proposal types in 2022 compared to the prior years analyzed.