Perceptions of Climate Change Shareholder Advocates

1
Perceptions of Climate Change Shareholder
Advocates

• Their Role, Their Context, and How Advocacy
  Functions

2
Shareholder Advocates

• Engagement
• Shareholder resolutions as leverage
• Non-binding
• Limited by 19 SEC rules
• Ordinary Business
• Moot by being substantially implemented
• Dialogue with management/board
• Withdrawal agreements

3
Questions

• How do advocates conceive of their role?
• What constraining and facilitating factors arise
  from their current operating context?
• What are advocates perceptions of how
  shareholder advocacy creates change

4
Methodology

• 24 interviews with climate change advocates
• Audience My participants
• GWSC highly coordinated
• Benefits
• Identify unity and disunity
• Formally share experiences/insights (especially
  re mechanism of change)

5
Background

• Business case
• Regulatory pressures
• Mitigation auto, electric power, oil and gas
• Long-term shareholder value
• GWSC
• ICCR/CERES
• Public pension funds
• Successes

6
Findings

• Advocates Role
• Operating Context
• Mechanism of Change

7
Findings Advocates Role

• Appropriateness
• No damaging/attacking a company
• Collaborative approach
• Credibility
• Allies
• Professionalism
• Perspective
• Social/Moral
• Financial
• Discussion

8
Findings Operating Context

• Constraining factors
• Resources
• Information/Research
• Opacity
• Politics/Election
• Short-termism
• Facilitating factors
• Company responsiveness
• Increasing allies, mainstreaming
• Mixed-opinion factors
• Scandals/SOX
• SEC
• Discussion

9
Findings Mechanism of Change

• Confluence of factors
• Resolutions clearly a threat
• Unique context of dialogue
• Pre-existing relationships
• Company experience with climate change and/or
  advocacy
• Company situation
• Company culture
• Power dynamics
• Shareholder support
• Asset size
• Obfuscation

10
Findings Mechanism of Change

• Convincing the company
• Peer pressure
• Company reputation
• Personal Values
• Professional role trumping personal values
• Point of connection
• Finding a leader
• Giving cover
• Opacity of this driver
• Personal reputation

11
Findings Mechanism of Change

• Pressure from Wall St.
• Questions being asked
• First sign of quantifiability
• Regulation
• Future scenarios Regulation as the death knell
  for advocacy?
• Discussion

12
Preliminary Conclusions

• Personal values as most salient question mark
• Business case momentum, risks of discussing
  personal values
• Follow-up survey
• How advocates could capitalize on this driver and
  what risks it might pose
• How advocates share their experiences and
  intuitions about effective tactics

13
Final Conclusions

• Formal research/evaluation tool
• Examine drivers
• Acknowledge
• Opaque nature of advocacy
• Unique character of dialogues
• Resource constraints