ESG Archive

Two first-time ESG shareholder proposals – while not being approved – secured significant levels of support at Delta Air Lines’ recent AGM, as momentum continues for environmental and social measures at US companies. A proposal requesting that the company release a report on its political contributions received the backing of 46 percent of the votes cast. Sim...

SASB has put its weight behind a European regulatory project that the board believes may result in global standards for ESG reporting by companies. At issue is Directive 2014/95/EU, more commonly referred to as the non-financial reporting directive (NFRD). The European Commission (EC) in February launched a consultation to collect feedback on potential changes to the directive, with comments due by June 11. SASB has submitted a ...

On May 21, 1971, shareholders at General Motors’ (GM) annual general meeting voted on an unusual resolution put forward by the Episcopal Church. Shareholders were asked to consider whether GM should withdraw its workforce from South Africa entirely, given that ‘many potential GM customers, employees and dealers here and abroad’ would be offended by the policy of apartheid. The resolution received support from 1.29 percent of the company’s shareholders – including...

The growing significance of sustainability with investors, media and customers is opening up new opportunities for IR professionals to expand their role into this burgeoning field. I’d like to explain why this is such a unique opportunity by sharing my own journey. Early in 2019 I expanded my role to include being the executive sponsor of the sustainability program, which focuses on the business impacts of ESG initiatives, such as greening our customer supply chai...