Kieran Poole is joined by Jon Solorzano of Vinson & Elkins and Rodolfo Araujo of EY as well as Insightia's Rebecca Sherratt to discuss our latest report, ESG 2023.
Jon advises companies and their boards on ESG issues, sustainability, activism, risk management, securities law, and M&A. Whereas, at EY, Rodolfo leads the ESG strategy and investor engagement efforts.
Among the top findings:
Scope 3 reporting goes global: Emissions-intensive sectors face sustained pressure to enhance their net-zero commitments, with climate change shareholder proposals winning 32.4% and 36.7% average support in the U.S. energy and aerospace/defense sectors, respectively, in the first five months of 2023.
Pressure mounts on issuers to enhance ESG disclosure: Although average support for E&S shareholder proposals appeared to fall over the last two years, the number that passed remains elevated and more ESG requests are being withdrawn for agreements. 26 E&S proposals won majority support at S&P 500 companies in 2022, compared to 17 and 30 in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
ESG activism out of favor with hedge funds: Rising inflation has placed ESG activism on the backburner for traditional activist hedge funds. 27 activist campaigns launched by primary- or partial-focus activists have featured environmental and/or social demands in the first five months of 2023, compared to 43 in the same period a year prior.
Join the conversation about the report using the hashtag #InsightiaESG on Twitter and LinkedIn.