The New York State Comptroller, Thomas DiNapoli, is helping direct stockholders’ resolutions to fight climate change using tools built by a nonprofit organization.
They track sustainable resolutions and provide resources about sustainable supply chains to shareholders who may be interested.
“More and more companies recognize that by taking steps to buy palm oil or soy from suppliers that do not contribute to deforestation, they are promoting better environmental practices and protecting their shareholder value.” This year, shareholder resolutions have become the new behind-the-scenes advocacy movement, with DiNapoli leading the charge.
He started with oil companies: 62 percent of Exxon shareholders voted to demand disclosure of risks to the climate.
Inside Climate News reports, The number of climate-related resolutions filed with food and beverage companies is up from 12 in 2011 to 131 this year.
The group released a guide last week for food company investors that illustrates the climate-related risks that each of eight commodities represents to supply chains and businesses.
The guide also looks at issues beyond but related to climate change, including water use and pollution, as well as social impacts, including land rights and working conditions.
“The risks are mounting—whether it’s climate change or water scarcity or human rights abuses—and investors need a one-stop shop.” Financial firms such as BlackRock, Vanguard, and Fidelity have put climate disclosure language in their mix of investments.
Food industry votes have not yet achieved the success that shareholders in the giant oil companies have had, but it is only the beginning.
A 2015 survey by CDP, formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project, found that 90 percent of 97 food, beverage and tobacco companies—representing 822 institutional investors and more than a third of the world’s invested capital—said their businesses were vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.