Shareholder Advocacy
How can you use your investments to create a greener world? If you own individual stocks in a company, you’re a shareholder, and can use that power to push for greater corporate responsibility.
If you own just one share of stock in a company for two months, you have a voice in how that company is run. As a shareholder, you can be an advocate for social and environmental issues you care about that are affected by the companies in which you invest.
Each year, companies that are publicly traded on the stock market hold an annual general meeting (AGM). Leading up to and at that meeting, all shareholders vote on the board of directors as well as key issues brought forward through shareholder resolutions.
Each year, hundreds of shareholder resolutions are filed on a wide range of environmental, social, and governance issues at companies across all sectors of our economy. Examples include asking companies to set goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, report on gender and racial pay disparities, disclose political influence spending, and more.
Shareholder ballots—called proxy ballots because they are voted remotely by proxy rather than in person at the company’s annual meeting—are emailed or postal mailed to shareholders. Voting your proxy ballots is a powerful way to voice your values in how the companies you invest in are run.
Shareholder advocacy has a long and storied history, but is perhaps best known for contributing to the downfall of apartheid in South Africa. It has been used to bring attention to critical social and economic concerns that may not show up in a company’s books but nevertheless affect the company’s outlook.
Voting on shareholder resolutions is not like voting in an election. Even if a resolution does not pass, if a significant percentage of shareholders support it, that may be enough to push a company to change. Sometimes resolutions are withdrawn, not because they don’t have support but because company leadership decides to implement what the resolution was asking for.
Click on the boxes below to learn more about shareholder advocacy and key resolutions to vote.
Key allies involved in shareholder advocacy work include:
Green America is not an investment adviser, nor do we provide financial planning, legal, or tax advice. Nothing in our communications or materials shall constitute or be construed as an offering of financial instruments or as investment advice or investment recommendations.
