2023-05-26 17:06:35
Glencore’s general meeting approved all of the board’s proposals on Friday. The shareholders voted in particular for the report on the climate. A demand from shareholders for more transparency in coal investments was rejected.
The climate report was approved by almost 70%. The previous year, it had been accepted at 76%. For the Australian Center for Social Responsibility and the NGO Shareaction, the report does not go far enough and they had asked for more details on the investments in coal and the climate objectives targeted by the group. Shareholder advisors ISS and Glass Lewis supported this request.
The board of directors opposed the request and it was followed by nearly 71% of the voting rights. He said he recognized that some shareholders (30.25%) had chosen to oppose the climate report and that “29.20% of shareholders chose to support the resolution” in question.
Recurring reviews
Nearly 50 demonstrators were present in front of the general assembly of Glencore. [Urs Flueeler – keystone]From the entrance to the Theater-Casino in Zug, where the general meeting was held, activists from the NGO Yukpa Solidarity Network were present (see box). Glencore’s strategy in coal is the subject of recurring criticism, including from investors who no longer want to be exposed to it in their investment portfolios.
In 2020 Norway’s sovereign wealth fund placed it on its exclusion list and in 2021 activist fund BlueBell Capital took a stake to lobby Glencore to separate coal from the rest of its business, saying it would not it is more “a raw material of the future”.
Glencore clings to coal
But unlike competitors like Anglo-American or Rio Tinto, Glencore clings to coal, explaining that it wants to manage its mines responsibly until they run out.
Coal is one of the resources that must be “rapidly reduced” to limit climate change, Kevin O’Reilly, campaign manager at ShareAction, told AFP, who hoped that this vote would be “a signal for Glencore” for the push to engage in discussions with investors.
The leaders of Glencore had called for a vote against this resolution, considering that it is not in the interest of the company.
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