Governance and stewardship news

As COP26 comes to a close, Minerva reports from Glasgow on the biggest takeaway for asset owners and asset managers.

As investors and companies alike prepare for the upcoming Australian AGM season, Minerva has published two new briefings covering the latest in ESG developments and crucial information for Australia-watchers.

This week at COP 26 saw a flurry of landmark achievements for greening the finance sector. The UK has delivered on its promise to make finance one of the core goals of this year's climate conference, with back-to-back announcements by governments and regulators indicating a major win for responsible investors. This follows the series of policy announcements impacting the financial services sector in the run-up to COP, such as those unveiled in the UK’s ‘green finance roadmap.’

The International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) Foundation has this week announced further consolidation plans between global sustainability reporting standard setters.

Investors are to begin voting against the reappointment of auditors that do not challenge companies on the impact of decarbonisation on their accounts.

The Global PSSL Founder and CEO, Radek Stech, calls on asset owners to consider the impact of their securities lending practices

Investors with more than $52 trillion in assets under management have signed a statement to governments calling for urgent measures to end fossil fuel subsidies, phase out thermal coal-based electricity, and mandate climate risk disclosures.

The UK government has announced plans to make TCFD-aligned climate reporting a legal requirement for more than 1,300 publicly traded companies.

The UK government this week (18-22 October 2021) sent the strongest signals yet that stewardship and informed voting plays a central role in the investment process. On Monday, HM Treasury laid out its roadmap for sustainable finance, while on Thursday, the Department of Work and Pensions launched its proposals to empower pension trustees with new rights which will empower them to ownership of the stewardship of their assets.

A group of US manufacturers are taking legal action in an effort to force the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to enact a Trump-era rule designed to restrict the influence of proxy advisors. The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has teamed up with Natural Gas Services to launch the claim, a company that has previously attempted to 'correct' information put out by proxy advisors.

Investment firms will be expected to publish more data on their voting rights and influence over companies in which they invest under new EU rules.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has published a consultation covering UK pension schemes' climate change reporting and stewardship duties.

Left unabated, the global costs of climate inaction are equivalent to losing between 5 and 20% of global gross domestic product each year, now and forever. Achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN SDGs requires a shift in investments of US$5 to US$7 trillion per year until 2030, with climate-related costs of inaction valued at US$1 trillion per year.

The fourth edition of the Australian Stock Exchange’s Corporate Governance Principles strengthened its recommendations around board diversity.

In a second blog post in our series on Australia’s upcoming AGM season, Minerva provides an overview of the remuneration strike system and identifies key remuneration votes to look out for in 2021. This blog article is based on analysis from Minerva’s upcoming Australia Peak Season Preview briefing – say hello@minerva.info for more information.