PRESS RELEASE
Opaque voting process in France contrasts with transparency in UK, US, Norway, and Netherlands
French investors lead or lack transparency, new voting analysis reveals, one week before shareholders will vote on a climate resolution co-filed by Amundi, AXA IM, and Groupama AM at Shell.
Five of the twelve largest investors in France do not disclose their voting behaviour during annual meetings of oil majors in 2023. This opaqueness contrasts with investor transparency in the UK, the US, Norway, and the Netherlands, where most institutional investors publish their votes (see all voting tables below).
“It’s impossible to assess the climate credentials of half of the largest French investors as they do not publish how they vote on crucial climate resolutions,” says Tarek Bouhouch of Follow This, the green shareholder group that filed the resolutions. “The Paris Agreement will fail unless the oil and gas industry changes. If shareholders do not vote for change, Big Oil will not take initiative. We thank Amundi, BNP Paribas, AXA IM, Ofi Invest AM, Groupama AM and La Banque Postale AM for their leadership in being transparent about their voting record.”
False dilemma
Next week, at Shell’s AGM, all investors have a new opportunity to show their commitment to Paris as the shareholder climate resolution at Shell comes to a vote at the Shell AGM on Tuesday 21 May. Amundi and AXA are among the 27 investors who co-filed this climate resolution.
“Investors do not have to sacrifice climate action in favour of short-term profits. This is a false dilemma: shareholders can enjoy dividends from oil and gas while oil majors invest these profits in renewables to drive down emissions at the same time. Taking short-term fossil fuel profits and addressing long-term climate risks are not mutually exclusive.”
Voting records for institutional investors
In the below voting tables, you will find the voting track record for some of the world’s and Europe’s leading institutional investors. These tables show voting record for the Follow This climate resolution at oil majors throughout the years.
- The full report and analysis on French voting is available via Kaja Jakubiec, kajajakubiec@follow-this.org
- Please find media coverage of the climate votes of the ten largest asset managers in the UK here: HSBC challenges Big Oil more often than peers
