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.”

Shareholders target QBE over climate change ‘failure’

QBE Insurance Group has become the latest big listed company to be hit with a demand for more transparency about potential risks it faces from climate change, amid calls by a prominent company director for boards to consider "uncomfortable questions" on the issue.

QBE has been hit with a shareholder resolution on climate risk.

Melbourne NGO Market Forces, which last year filed similar resolutions targeting Santos, Oil Search and Origin Energy, has this time teamed up with the $10 billion Local Government Super to call for more disclosure of climate risks by the insurer.

Read the story by Ruth Collins in The Age - “Shareholders target QBE over climate change ‘failure’."

Energy market reform

The New South Wales Farmers’ Association is calling on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to establish more transparency in the retail electricity market.

New South Wales Farmers' Association is
calling for reform to the electricity market.

NSW Farmers’ Association president Derek Schoen said compared to urban areas, consumers in regional areas are paying more.

‘‘Regional electricity users are paying the highest electricity prices in Australia, and with the introduction of cost-reflective pricing, some users will see increases in their electricity bill of 200 per cent,’’ he said.

Read the story in Country News - “Energy market reform.”