Fidelity International announced proxy voting policies on board gender diversity and climate change in connection with its release of these new “Sustainable investing voting principles and guidelines.”
- Fidelity will vote against boards in the US and other developed markets that don’t have at least 30% female representation.
- Subject to industry-specific variations in application, beginning in 2022, Fidelity will vote against directors at companies that fail to take action to manage climate change impacts and to reduce or have policies in place to reduce their GHG emissions, and fail to make specific and appropriate disclosures around emissions, targets, risk management and oversight. This table summarizes its minimum expectations:
See pages 39 – 40 for a detailed discussion of Fidelity’s climate change-related policies, including its positions on say-on-climate and other climate-related shareholder proposals.
See “Fidelity International to Push for Portfolio Company Action on Gender Diversity and Climate” (ESG Today), “Fidelity places climate expectations at centre of new voting policy” (institutional Asset Manager), “Fidelity International to vote against climate, diversity laggards next year” (Pensions & Investments), and “Fidelity International expands voting guidelines with new diversity and climate change policies globally” (IFA Magazine) and additional resources on our Institutional Investors page.
This post first appeared in the weekly Society Alert!