My name is Lila Holzman and I want to thank you for the opportunity to present proposal number 3, submitted by As You Sow on behalf of Amalgamated Bank. 

We applaud the board for supporting this resolution.

The proposal requests disclosure on whether General Electric will rise to the occasion and meet the criteria of the Net Zero Indicator as laid out in the Climate Action 100+ Net Zero Company Benchmark or, if not, why not. 

The goal of limiting global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees is embedded in the internationally agreed upon Paris Climate Agreement. Meeting this 1.5 degree goal is critical to avoid catastrophic climate risks to the global economy, to GE, and to investors and their fiduciaries. It requires achieving net-zero emissions economy-wide by midcentury.

Investors, and the financial sector generally, are calling for enhanced disclosure and accelerated corporate action on the climate crisis. The Climate Action 100+ initiative, a coalition of more than 500 investors with over 54 trillion dollars in assets, launched its Net-Zero Company Benchmark to help investors assess and compare company progress on climate. The benchmark calls on the largest carbon-emitting companies, including GE, to align its disclosures with specific metrics demonstrating that companies are transitioning their enterprises in alignment with the Paris goals.

Indicator 1 is the Net Zero Indicator. It seeks disclosure on whether GE has set an ambition to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner, and whether any such ambition explicitly includes Scope 1, 2 and, as importantly, Scope 3 emissions. Currently GE has only set a goal for carbon neutrality for its operational emissions, yet these account for a small fraction of GE’s carbon footprint compared to its significant Scope 3, product-based emissions. 

GE has a critical role to play in the clean energy transition, yet it only recently announced an exit from coal after considerable losses. Multiple GE business units are still promoting the use of carbon-intensive fossil fuels like natural gas. Shareowners concerned with preventing the systemic risks associated with a warming planet seek to understand if and how GE intends to reduce investment in fossil-based infrastructure — which locks in decades of emissions — and instead transition quickly to align its footprint with the Paris goal. 

We commend the board for recommending shareholders vote in favor of this proposal. In supporting the resolution, we hope that GE will in fact align with the criteria of the Net Zero Indicator, which calls for a commitment to net-zero emissions by 2050 or sooner across all of GE’s relevant scopes of emissions, including its product-based emissions.

We look forward to working with GE and the Climate Action 100+ initiative to address this vital issue.

Thank you.