Institutional investors have a road map for voting against directors of companies that have not done enough to address climate change, through Majority Action's Proxy Voting for a 1.5°C World website, which launched Tuesday.
The website has a list of systemically important companies in four key sectors: electricity generation, oil and gas, transportation and banking, along with a summary of each company's current emissions targets, capital allocation and policy activity related to climate change.
The proxy voting guide includes recommendations for voting against directors at companies failing to implement plans consistent with limiting global warming, by industry sector. In banking, the guide calls for voting against the chairmen of J.P. Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs Group, among others.
The four sectors "must all make dramatic transformations to curb the worst of catastrophic climate change and protect long-term investors," the website said. "Substantial votes against board members at these companies could help realign business and investment plans to the goals of the Paris Agreement, hold companies accountable for dark money used to influence critical climate policies, and align executive compensation to key decarbonization goals."
Unless companies set a target to reach net-zero emissions no later than 2050, "investors can have no confidence that the company will be able to transform its business consistent with limiting warming to 1.5ºC," the website said.
The campaign also calls on large asset managers BlackRock and Vanguard Group to vote their proxies.
