ESG & DE&I

Actionable data is more important than high volume Recently, the head of ESG at a blue-chip asset manager that is paying more than $200,000 annually for ESG data told me: ‘Once we get this ton of data from a major data provider, our work just begins. We have to make some financial sense of it.’ His remark points to a fundamental problem with ESG data and the $50 tn ESG investment market: there are too many indicators and too much non-actionable data. For an investor, knowing how many tons of greenhouse gases a company emits annually says little, if anything,…

This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – Reuters (paywall) reported that investors that use shareholder proposals to press action on ESG issues are concerned that an ExxonMobil lawsuit bypassing the SEC could undermine their influence. Under appointees of President Joe Biden, the SEC has made it more difficult for companies to omit these proposals from their proxy materials. ExxonMobil earlier this month sidestepped the SEC and filed a lawsuit against two shareholders that had put forward a resolution calling on the company to set new targets for reducing some of its greenhouse gas emissions. ‘We’re…

This week’s governance, compliance and risk-management stories from around the web – CNBC reported that ExxonMobil filed a lawsuit against US and Dutch activist investors in an effort to stop them from submitting climate shareholder proposals during the company’s AGM. The complaint was filed in the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas against Arjuna Capital and Follow This. A growing number of environmental and social shareholder proposals have been voted on in recent proxy seasons. The SEC usually decides whether companies are allowed to exclude proposals. In a statement, ExxonMobil said: ‘The breakdown of the shareholder proposal…

Ratings agencies should publicly disclose methodologies and processes, investor says The world’s largest investor, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), has called for improved transparency and governance when it comes to ESG ratings. NBIM acknowledges that although ESG ratings play a critical role in guiding investment decisions, risk monitoring and stewardship activities, a lack of disclosure regarding methodology, data sources and estimation surrounding the rating can be off-putting. ‘We are a user of ESG ratings and have an interest in a well-functioning global ESG data market. As an investor, we need information on companies’ exposure to sustainability risks and opportunities, how…

Big investors supported significantly fewer environmental proposals last year, Georgeson finds Investor support for environmental shareholder proposals was lower last year than in 2022, with big investors such as Vanguard, Capital Group and Dimensional supporting less than 10 percent of environmental proposals, data shows. A total of 68 anti-ESG proposals were put to a vote during 2023’s proxy season: four that tackled environmental issues, 46 social proposals and 18 concerning governance matters, according to Georgeson’s latest Investor Voting Report. Of the largest institutional investors, Northern Trust continued to be most likely to support environmental proposals, though it was also the…

France, Spain and UK lead on climate plan proposals, while Portugal sees first company put climate strategy to its shareholder base Baker Hughes has promoted Georgia Magno to become chief legal officer. Magno was previously vice president and general counsel for Baker Hughes’ industrial and energy technology business. She joined the company in 2010, initially as general counsel for its global supply chain. She went on to hold legal roles in various commercial, operational and product line organizations with Baker Hughes countries, including Italy and the US. In her new role, Magno is responsible for the energy technology company’s legal…