Why Mergence will back the resolution on climate risk
Standard Bank is being asked to disclose no more information than it has already committed to by adopting the Equator Principles and its reporting to the Carbon Disclosure Project
On May 30 shareholders of Standard Bank will be asked to vote on the first climate-risk-related shareholder resolution to be tabled by an SA-listed company. This is an important step for shareholder engagement in SA, and Standard Bank is to be commended for tabling the resolution and giving shareholders a voice on this important issue. Globally, most large listed companies calculate and publicly disclose the greenhouse gas emissions generated by their operations. For banks this means disclosing the impact of electricity usage in their own offices, air travel by their staff and the like, but does not take into account the emissions of the many businesses and projects financed by the bank. This resolution, proposed and supported by the Raith Foundation, Theo Botha and Just Share, would require Standard Bank to disclose the greenhouse gas emissions of the bank’s lending portfolio and the amount of funding the bank provides to carbon-related assets. In addition, the resolution asks the ...
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