Say-on-climate voting is on the up, but investor support falls by Gavin Hicks

Support for say-on-climate proposals has dropped off year on year, though the number of votes— which are currently voluntary—has greatly increased, according to new research.

There is also an emerging divide among shareholders. European fund managers appear to be increasing their dissent, while their US counterparts appear to be maintaining high levels of support.

A study by SquareWell Partners, a shareholder advisory firm, reveals that the number of management sponsored say-on-climate (SoC) votes more than doubled over the past 12 months from 22 in 2021 to 46 in 2022.

However, while boards may be putting their climate plans forward for shareholder judgment, support is not always high. Average support last year was 86%, down from 93% in the previous year.SquareWell found that EDF (Électricité de France) scored the highest approval for its climate plan with 99.6%, while Woodside Energy, an Australian oil exploration company, clocked the lowest at 50.3%.

Say-on-climate voting is on the up, but support falls