{"title":"Shareholder Proposals and Sustainability: An Empirically-Based Critical Reflection","authors":"Michael H.C. Bakker","doi":"10.1515/ecfr-2023-0015","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract 276 Publicly traded companies face growing scrutiny in respect of their sustainability strategies and policies from regulators, the general public, NGOs, as well as investors. One area where the attention for corporate sustainability issues has materialised is at the general meetings of these companies, including in the form of a growing number of shareholder proposals on environmental and social topics. Against the background of this development, I have investigated sustainability-related shareholder proposals in 25 countries. More specifically, this paper presents the results of a survey of shareholder proposals on environmental and social topics that have been put to a vote in the period between 2020 and 2022, with the aim of exploring what sustainability issues are addressed through shareholder proposals, who submit E&S-related shareholder proposals, and which sectors are subjected to such proposals. During this three-year period, nearly one-third of the 1995 shareholder proposal that have been identified directly related to environmental and social issues. The investigation reveals that the majority of such proposals have been submitted by individuals, organisations with primarily social objectives, and SRI asset managers and investment advisors. But in light of increasing attention, both in society and in investor circles, for what institutional investors are doing to support and promote sustainability strategies and policies of publicly traded companies, in particular when it comes to climate change, it may be the case that (some of) these investors will increasingly exercise agenda-setting rights in connection with corporate sustainability issues. 277","PeriodicalId":54052,"journal":{"name":"European Company and Financial Law Review","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.3000,"publicationDate":"2023-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"European Company and Financial Law Review","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1515/ecfr-2023-0015","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"LAW","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract 276 Publicly traded companies face growing scrutiny in respect of their sustainability strategies and policies from regulators, the general public, NGOs, as well as investors. One area where the attention for corporate sustainability issues has materialised is at the general meetings of these companies, including in the form of a growing number of shareholder proposals on environmental and social topics. Against the background of this development, I have investigated sustainability-related shareholder proposals in 25 countries. More specifically, this paper presents the results of a survey of shareholder proposals on environmental and social topics that have been put to a vote in the period between 2020 and 2022, with the aim of exploring what sustainability issues are addressed through shareholder proposals, who submit E&S-related shareholder proposals, and which sectors are subjected to such proposals. During this three-year period, nearly one-third of the 1995 shareholder proposal that have been identified directly related to environmental and social issues. The investigation reveals that the majority of such proposals have been submitted by individuals, organisations with primarily social objectives, and SRI asset managers and investment advisors. But in light of increasing attention, both in society and in investor circles, for what institutional investors are doing to support and promote sustainability strategies and policies of publicly traded companies, in particular when it comes to climate change, it may be the case that (some of) these investors will increasingly exercise agenda-setting rights in connection with corporate sustainability issues. 277
期刊介绍：
In legislation and in case law, European law has become a steadily more dominant factor in determining national European company laws. The “European Company”, the forthcoming “European Private Company” as well as the Regulation on the Application of International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS Regulation”) have accelerated this development even more. The discussion, however, is still mired in individual nations. This is true for the academic field and – even still – for many practitioners. The journal intends to overcome this handicap by sparking a debate across Europe on drafting and application of European company law. It integrates the European company law component previously published as part of the Zeitschrift für Unternehmens- und Gesellschaftsrecht (ZGR), on of the leading German law reviews specialized in the field of company and capital market law. It aims at universities, law makers on both the European and national levels, courts, lawyers, banks and other financial service institutions, in house counsels, accountants and notaries who draft or work with European company law. The journal focuses on all areas of European company law and the financing of companies and business entities. This includes the law of capital markets as well as the law of accounting and auditing and company law related issues of insolvency law. Finally it serves as a platform for the discussion of theoretical questions such as the economic analysis of company law. It consists of articles and case notes on both decisions of the European courts as well as of national courts insofar as they have implications on European company law.
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