Volkswagen rejects shareholder proposal after climate lobby disclosures

Volkswagen has rejected a shareholder proposal to explain how its lobbying activities align with its climate targets – something that two of the automaker’s leading rivals have already promised, one of the investors said on Friday.
A motion from a group of seven shareholders said that while Volkswagen discloses its memberships in trade associations, it should go further and say whether the associations’ goals are consistent with its emissions reduction targets.
The friendly car manufacturers Mercedes-Benz and BMW have already committed themselves to this.
“The board does not create transparent oversight of the company’s climate advocacy work,” said Charlotta Sydstrand, sustainability strategist at Swedish pension scheme AP7, one of the shareholders involved in the proposal.
Her comments were included in a statement from the Church of England Pensions Group, which also supported the filing.
The statement said Volkswagen rejected the proposal on the grounds that the matter was outside the competence of the general meeting.
Volkswagen was initially unavailable for comment.
Other supporters of the proposal included Britain’s largest listed wealth manager, Schroders, and a number of Swedish pension funds.
The pressure from investors on climate-related issues is growing rapidly.
Last week, 34 investors managing more than $7 trillion in assets at 17 of Europe’s largest companies, including Volkswagen, warned they could challenge board members over their climate risk accounting.
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