Investors should call time on deficient climate pledges. So says proxy adviser Glass Lewis, which recommends shareholders vote down miner BHP’s Climate Transition Action Plan, dismissing its scope as limited and pointing out that its targets do not align with goals set in the Paris agreement.
This is a blow for the world’s biggest miner. It is a signal that investors, fresh from a spate of victories on shareholder propositions, will not blithely wave through board-sponsored proposals on decarbonisation any more than they would on remuneration.
Nor should they. For many companies, from oil and gas majors through to shampoo makers, meeting targets on carbon emissions amounts to big strategic change in what they sell and how they source. So-called Say on Climate resolutions, which seek investor approval on plans for climate change action, are increasing. There have been 22 this year, according to Insightia. They included Glencore, Royal Dutch Shell and Rio Tinto. As these are often on three-year cycles, getting them right from the start matters.