Environmental Leader

U.S. investor groups have filed 95 global warming shareholder resolutions with public corporations, a 40 percent increase over last year, according to a press release from the Investor Network on Climate Risk.

The resolutions, lodged with 82 U.S. and Canadian companies, seek a range of concessions, from improved sustainability reporting to energy efficiency efforts.

The Investor Network on Climate Risk is backed by investor group Ceres. In all, the network of 80 institutional investors manages $8 trillion in assets.

“As the SEC recently affirmed with its disclosure guidance, climate change presents clear material risks and opportunities for U.S. businesses – and investors have a right to know which companies are well prepared and which are not,” said Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres.

“We want our companies to closely look at the impact climate change legislation and regulation have on them, to realistically assess those risks, and to consider the indirect consequences of climate change-driven regulation and business trends on their activities,” said Jack Ehnes, CEO of CalSTRS, which manages $131 billion dollars in assets.

So far this year, the investors have been able to convince enough companies to make changes that 28 shareholder resolutions have been withdrawn, according to the release.

Among the resolutions, CalSTRS, a public pension fund, filed a resolution with ConocoPhillips, protesting its oil sands operations.

A similar resolution over oil sands processing was filed by Green Century Capital Management against ExxonMobil.

See a complete list of the resolutions here.

Last year, Ceres put companies including Exxon Mobil Corp., General Motors and coal miner Massey Energy Co. on a “Climate Watch” list, citing concerns that the firms’ long-term competitiveness could be hurt by their lack of action on climate change.