The number of shareholder resolutions filed at the annual general meetings (AGMs) of S&P 500 companies that are focused on environmental and social issues has dropped by 40% this year. On top of this, support for the remaining resolutions has also fallen dramatically, according to Morningstar.
On average, resolutions on environmental issues received only 13% support, down from a peak of 33% in 2021, according to an analysis from the data provider.
“It has been an interesting year for investment stewardship,” said Morningstar’s Lindsey Stewart, speaking at the firm’s Sustainable Investing Summit in Amsterdam last week.
Stewart added that while environmental and social resolutions were bleeding support, that’s not the case for governance-related resolutions. Average support for conventional governance resolutions stood at 35% in the 2025 proxy year, which is roughly the same figure as in previous years.
“It’s clear the market is losing critical signals on sustainability factors many investors view as vital for long-term investment decisions. In many areas, we have stopped receiving signals now. They have been cut off at source, particularly in the US, as much fewer shareholder proposals are coming through,” he said, noting there were only 30 environmental and social resolutions with at least 30% support from independent shareholders.
“This is a stark contrast to the 100+ we saw in each of the five years prior.”
Anti-ESG
The reasons for the stark drop in both filings of and support for environmental and social resolutions are obvious. One is the anti-ESG crusade fuelled by Republican politicians that has gained strength this year after Donald Trump returned to the US presidency.
Large asset managers such as BlackRock and State Street Investment Management have since left net-zero and climate initiatives such as Climate Action 100+ and Net Zero Asset Managers initiative.
US asset managers have also largely stopped supporting environmental and social resolutions, Morningstar’s data show.
Support from the country’s six largest asset managers (BlackRock, Dimensional, Invesco, JP Morgan Asset Management, State Street Investment Management, and Vanguard) for so-called significant resolution (with more than 30% support from independent shareholders) has dropped from a peak of 46% in 2021 to only 18% in 2025.
At the same time, support from Europe’s six largest asset managers (Amundi, Fidelity International, Legal & General Investment Management, Norges Bank Investment Management, Schroders, and UBS Asset Management) has remained stable at around 90%.
SEC guidance
Secondly, US regulator Securities and Exchange Commission introduced new guidance in February permitting companies to exclude a wider range of shareholder resolutions from proxy ballots.
“ESG resolutions are now being considered by the SEC as micro management, allowing companies to throw these out,” says Mark van Baal of shareholder advocacy group Follow This. According to Van Baal, this has everything to do with the change of management of the SEC after Trump’s election.
On top of this, the SEC has begun demanding extensive disclosures from investors with a large equity stake in a company that wants to engage with management on ESG matters.
This includes, among other things, the source and amount of funds or securities used in the purchase and the purpose of the transaction, including any plans or proposals relating to major changes to a company’s board, policies, ESG strategy, or structure. This disclosure burden has stiffened investor engagement with companies.
Morningstar could not provide similar data on ESG resolutions at European companies, as shareholder resolutions are filed much less frequently in Europe compared to the US.
There is, however, anecdotal evidence that support for environmental and social resolution is also dropping here. Follow This, for example, chose not to file resolutions at several oil and gas companies this year, citing a lack of shareholder support.
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