2020 marked another breakthrough proxy season for environmental and social (E&S) resolutions, which racked up 20 majority votes—the biggest number on record. And it could go even higher. Nearly two dozen E&S proposals remain in the pipeline for summer and fall annual meetings covering high vote-getting topics such as climate change, diversity and political activities. However, the largest scoring category to date has been human capital management (HCM), likely fueled in part by shareholder concerns over employee health, safety and job security during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Some of this season’s standout environmental, social and governance (ESG) campaigns and voting trends covering all U.S. public companies are discussed in our August newsletter, which may be downloaded at the link below: