The Church of England Pensions Board (CEPB) has announced that it will vote against the reappointment of directors at banks that have materially backtracked on their climate commitments during this year’s annual general meeting (AGM) season.
To do this, it said it would carry out bank-specific assessments to identify directors responsible for weakened climate or risk policies, assess whether governance failures represent material risks to long-term value, and escalate through votes against board chairs, and/or director members of sustainability or risk committees where appropriate.
Currently, the pension fund intends to vote against relevant items at the AGMs of NatWest, Santander, and HSBC, and will monitor other banks’ reporting as proxy season continues.
Laura Hillis, CEPB’s managing director, responsible investment, said the pension fund was not out to punish companies who haven’t been able to meet their commitments despite best efforts.
“This is about integrity of governance,” she said. “Investors need confidence that directors will maintain consistent, credible oversight of climate and risk policies. Where that confidence is undermined, we will act.”
Kelly Shields, senior campaign manager at ShareAction, whose dataset will inform CEPB’s analysis, called on pension funds to take CEPB’s lead.
“With AGM season around the corner, this approach sends a clear signal: accountability still matters,” she said.
“Other pension funds have the same tools and they must use them to protect savers and push banks to stay on track.”
AkademikerPension
AkademikerPension, a Danish pension fund, is also tightening its voting policy at banks. Last week it said it would vote against chairs and board members at Banco Santander, HSBC and NatWest after the financial institutions reined in their climate commitments.
“As an active investor, we can do nothing but send a strong signal and a clear indication that this is the completely wrong way to go,” said CIO Anders Schelde.
“And even though there is hardly any doubt that the people in question will be elected, the no vote is a necessary tool to hold the management accountable.”
