ESG: what happened at the 2022 proxy season?

In this feature by Board Agenda, Eduardo Sancho Garcia comments on the findings of the latest European Lighthouse, the report that clearly proves that so-called ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) has become the dominant theme in the context of the company-shareholder dialogue, with 738 ESG shareholder resolutions reported in Europe from January to September 2022, and 623 in the US and Canada over the same period.

Among other issues highlighted by the report:

• Quorum and participation at the AGMs have increased in almost every market
• All companies in key indexes, aside from the Greek ATHEX 25 and the Portuguese PSI, have boards that were, on average, majority independent
• Average shareholder support for board elections exceeded 90% in all indexes apart from the Portuguese PSI
• Overall support for remuneration related items was around 90% of votes cast
• Although board gender diversity has reached relatively acceptable levels across European boards, it is still highly unbalanced in the leadership roles
• Climate resolutions are progressively spreading throughout the European AGM landscape

Read full article here.