The resolutions were filed by activist shareholder group As You Sow, which the Republicans suggested had targeted Vanguard over its withdrawal. As You Sow President Danielle Fugere said that was not correct as the group had filed similar resolutions last year, before Vanguard's December action. Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow President Danielle Fugere was pleased that Chubb is focusing on climate change but questioned how committed the insurance company is when it will not disclose its own or customer emissions. "Chubb's own reporting will not answer that question," Fugere said in a statement. Read More →
Read MoreThe timing of Chubb's move ahead of the proxy season, when investors consider climate proposals, was likely intentional, said Danielle Fugere, the president and chief counsel of As You Sow, a group that targets insurers with shareholder campaigns. Read More →
Read MoreDanielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of As You Sow, an advocacy group, said that Citi is "a leader among other banks" when it comes to climate commitments. As You Sow has filed climate-related shareholder proposals at Citi and other banks. Read More →
Read MoreDanielle Fugere, As You Sow’s president, discussed the non-profit’s engagement strategy: “We have been engaging with the banks for some time… asking them to measure their emissions and disclose their target setting. We didn’t file at all last year with banks, but have returned this year to work with them to find agreement on what would be an appropriate transition plan.” Read More →
Read More“Banks have made significant progress over the last five years, but they need to set policies and be more transparent about how they are reaching their climate goals,” said Danielle Fugere, president of activist shareholder As You Sow, which is part of the group that filed the resolutions. Read More →
Read MoreSo far, there have been about five such proposals filed with banks over their transition plans for achieving their stated goals, said Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow. And insurance companies are increasingly being asked to set targets – resolutions have been brought at Chubb and Berkshire Hathaway, for example, she noted. Read More →
Read MoreFor lead, that will mean changes in harvesting and manufacturing practices, says Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow. Such practices could include minimizing soil contact with beans as they lie in the sun, and drying beans on tables or clean tarps away from roads or with protective covers, so lead-contaminated dust won’t land on them. Another option is finding ways to remove metal contaminants when beans are cleaned at factories, Fugere says. Read More →
Read MoreAll these issues are related. Danielle Fugere, president of As You Sow, explains that most companies put employees who don’t choose specific investments into target-date funds for their retirement plans. (This is why they’re called the “default” option.) Such funds “are fairly high in high-carbon companies such as oil and gas,” Fugere says. In the past, companies have argued that Erisa prohibited them from addressing issues like climate change. A Trump-era rule previously banned consideration of ESG issues in decisions related to default options. Read More →
Read More“Politics should be separate from markets,” said Danielle Fugere, president of shareholder advocacy group As You Sow. “The world is transitioning towards a greener economy, and markets are adjusting to that. It is absurd for lawmakers to think that they’re going to put a stop to that progress. It would be detrimental to U.S. businesses.” Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow focuses on environmental and climate issues but has waged investor campaigns or gone to court on several food-related issues. The nonprofit group and the National Confectioners Association released a report in August identifying growing and harvesting conditions for cacao beans that led to toxic heavy metals lead and cadmium in chocolate. Read More →
Read MoreDanielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, talks to Ben Maiden about a record year for ESG investor proposals and trends in engagement with companies. Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow president Danielle Fugere says in a statement following the AGM: ‘With this strong vote, investors have made it clear that companies must fully address how the global transition away from fossil fuels will affect their companies’ bottom line and future success. As demonstrated by the IEA net-zero by 2050 scenario, a clear pathway to achieving net-zero emissions exists – and it requires a rapid movement away from fossil fuel-based energy. Read More →
Read MoreAs shareholder activist groups strategize for next year, more are planning to take direct aim at corporate managers who don’t deliver on climate. And although outright victories remain rare, the vote gap is closing as more mainstream investors recognize that climate change is a business risk. “Companies that aren’t transitioning aren’t good investments,” said Danielle Fugere, president of shareholder group As You Sow. “That message is loud and clear.” Read More →
Read More“Their current financial statements don’t truly take climate risk into account,” said Danielle Fugere, president of the shareholder advocacy group As You Sow. “They are looking at significant growth of fossil fuel assets and fossil fuel demand over the next two or three decades. What happens to your business if we are successful in meeting the net-zero goals that we set in Paris? How many write- offs are there? What happens to your asset retirement obligations?” Read More →
Read More“They are holding a steady course. That hasn’t always been the case when we see a price spike. I think that is good news and a sign of how much the transition is impacting companies,” said Danielle Fugere, president and chief counsel of As You Sow, a nonprofit that advocates for socially responsible investing Read More →
Read MoreAccording to an SEC filing, 91.36 percent of the votes cast at the company’s recent AGM backed a proposal filed by As You Sow asking that Boeing’s board release a report ‘evaluating and disclosing if and how the company has met the criteria of the net-zero indicator, including Scope 3 use of product emissions, or whether it intends to revise its policies to be fully responsive to such [an] indicator.’ Read More →
Read MoreAs You Sow, the nonprofit that submitted the two shareholder resolutions at Caterpillar, said it supported companies experimenting with different ways of reducing environmental impacts but hopes the company will disclose more about its efforts. Read More →
Read MoreAltogether, Berkshire faced four shareholder proposals. One, led by Federated Hermes (FHI) on behalf of other shareholders, asked Berkshire to publish an annual assessment of how it manages physical and transitional climate-change-related risks and opportunities. It won 27% of the overall vote, or around 47% of the vote excluding insiders. A second, led by shareholder advocate As You Sow, asked Berkshire to report on its greenhouse gas emissions. It also won 27% of the overall vote. A third, also led by As You Sow, asked Berkshire or its holding companies to report on the outcomes of their DEI efforts by publishing data on workforce composition and promotion rates by gender, race, and ethnicity. It won 26% of the vote. The board of directors recommended voting against the proposals. Read More →
Read MoreDanielle Fugere, the president of As You Sow, a shareholder representative organization promoting environmental and social corporate responsibility, wrote in Sierra, the magazine of the Sierra Club, that the SEC's rules "represent an important step forward in terms of using market mechanisms to spur progress on climate action." ("What Do the New SEC Rules Mean for Action on Climate Change?" March 24, 2022.) Read More →
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