Super funds shy on backing climate change votes

Super funds remain reluctant to back shareholder motions calling for more transparency from Australian companies on climate change risks, despite supporting similar proposals targeting companies in the US, research suggests.

Australian funds backed a motion targeting Occidental
Petroleum, but many declined to support votes against local companies.

And the research, produced by NGO Market Forces, argues that super funds are also lagging on their own standards of transparency, with many making only limited disclosures about how they voted at company meetings - and some not revealing this information at all.

Market Forces examined the proxy voting records of Australia's 50 biggest super funds to track how they voted on 53 climate change-related shareholder resolutions at company AGMs in Australia and the US.

Such resolutions, which are common in the US and have become more frequently used in Australia, often call on companies to disclose more information about how climate change may impact their operations, and the steps they are taking to respond to its risks. Company boards usually recommend shareholders vote against the resolutions.

Read the story by Ruth Williams from The Age - “Super funds shy on backing climate change votes.”

Malcolm Turnbull puts AGL board on notice in power crisis

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is targeting the board of energy giant AGL in his push to keep the Liddell coal-fired power station open, warning the company has a duty to consider a sale and prevent a looming east coast power shortage.

Malcolm Turnbull has stepped up the pressure AGL and its
 boss Andy Vesey to keep the ageing Liddell power station open

But the Prime Minister has signalled a compromise with the directors and their combative chief executive, Andy Vesey, telling Fairfax Media the company could avoid selling the plant to a competitors as long as it kept Liddell running “for a few more years”.

Read David Crowe’s story from The Age - “Malcolm Turnbull puts AGL board on notice in power crisis.”