Hello! Annual general meeting season is slowly approaching this spring and there have already been developments in the United States to roll back gains made by environmental, social and governance campaigners. We also take a look at the major federal staff cuts undertaken by President Donald Trump's administration. Shareholder resolutions were the centerpiece of many corporate meetings in recent years as investors took interest in matters, such as climate change or workforce diversity – hot-button topics for Donald Trump's Republicans. In fact, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) wasted no time in issuing new guidance to make it easier for companies to avoid bringing shareholder resolutions to a vote at annual meetings under the new Trump administration. The SEC said it will now consider certain company requests to leave resolutions off proxy statements on a case-by-case basis rather than focusing on whether a proposal raises a broad social issue, as it had under previous policy, according to a legal bulletin, on the agency's website. Also on my radar today: |
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) headquarters in Washington, DC, U.S. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/File Photo |
The ESG boardroom landscape |
The SEC's new guidance gives companies more room to claim that proposals – often ones around ESG – micromanage their operations and skip votes. Typically, resolutions are proposed by institutional investors, such as pension funds, asset managers, activist shareholders, or advocacy groups. So where does ESG shareholder resolution support stand among these groups? Let's take a look at asset managers as an example. New research by charity ShareAction shows a downward trend in asset managers' support for shareholder resolutions aimed at tackling environmental and social issues – hitting a new low in 2024. Claudia Gray, head of financial sector research at ShareAction, said this was the worst result the charity has seen from asset managers in the six years they have been monitoring their voting performance. "As support for shareholder resolutions hits rock bottom, asset managers are failing to use these votes to hold companies accountable for their social and climate impacts," said Gray. Asset managers that blocked corporate action by voting against shareholder resolutions to protect human rights, nature, and climate included the four largest asset managers in the world – BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, State Street Global Advisors, and Vanguard. Various Republican officials have accused both Vanguard and BlackRock of putting too much emphasis on ESG concerns, while the companies say they prioritize returns. Last month, Vanguard removed some guidance related to women and minority directors, while BlackRock eliminated a 30% diversity target for boards. |
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Keeping up with Trump developments |
This week, the Trump administration set its sights on axing thousands of federal staff workers. Here are some of the numbers below: |
- 75,000 – the number of U.S. federal workers who accepted the deferred buyout program.
- 9,500 – the number of workers who had their employment terminated at the departments of Interior, Energy, Veterans Affairs, Agriculture and Health and Human Services. The cutbacks have largely – but not exclusively – targeted probationary employees in their first year on the job who have fewer employment protections.
- 3,400 – the number of recent hires fired from the U.S. Forest Service.
- 1,000 – the number of staff members fired at the National Park Service.
- 388 – the number of workers terminated at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency who were hired over the last two years. The administration says this will align its workforce with Trump's "energy dominance" policy agenda.
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It's also worth noting that federal programs have stopped hiring seasonal firefighters and halted the removal of fire hazards such as deadwood from forests, according to organizations impacted by the reductions. |
U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright speaks in the Oval Office as President Trump signs an executive order, at the White House, in Washington, D.C., U.S. REUTERS/Nathan Howard |
- Net zero: U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright called a pledge to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 a "sinister goal" and criticised the British government's attempts to hit clean energy targets. Wright also used a question-and-answer session at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship event to say his number one priority was for the government to "get out of the way" of the production of oil, gas and coal.
- Santorini quakes: Greece will soon set up an evacuation port on the island of Santorini to facilitate the safe escape of people in case a bigger quake hits Santorini, a volcanic island in the Aegean Sea. The popular tourist destination has been shaken by tens of thousands of mild quakes since late January, forcing thousands of people to flee, and authorities to ban construction activity, and shut schools and nearby islands.
- Kentucky floods: Severe weather killed eight people across Kentucky after storms dumped more than 8 inches (200 mm) of rain on parts of the state, as the rain turned into slushy snow, officials said. Governor Andy Beshear reported six floodwater-related deaths.
- Sudan hunger crisis: The United Nations asked for $6 billion for Sudan this year from donors – a rise of more than 40% from last year's – to help ease the world's worst-ever hunger catastrophe and the mass displacement of people brought on by the impact of the 22-month civil war between Sudan's army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
- Brazil deforestation: Brazilian environmental agents kicked off a year-long project called 'Operation Maravalha' and seized the equivalent of more than 5,000 truckloads of timber in one of the most heavily logged regions of the Amazon rainforest in recent weeks, officials told Reuters. The government expects Maravalha to be the largest operation of its kind in over five years, closing nearly a dozen sawmills and levying fines totaling 15.5 million reais ($2.7 million) during a two-week raid.
- Canada diversity: Canada's Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions has proposed new rules requiring banks and other national institutions to disclose information about the diversity of their boards of directors and top management, in sharp contrast with the U.S. Trump administration which is ending such practices.
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Britain's Thames Water secured court approval for a 3 billion pound ($3.8 billion) debt lifeline on Tuesday. The utility company is at the centre of a public backlash against the country's privatised water industry, blamed for polluting rivers with sewage. The government had been on standby to put Thames Water, which is struggling with 18 billion pounds in debt, into special administration, a form of temporary nationalisation aimed at keeping the taps on in the event of financial collapse. |
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Sustainable Switch was edited by Tomasz Janowski. |
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