A shareholder resolution calling for Engie to be able to better evaluate its climate strategy was rejected on Wednesday, but still approved by a quarter of the voters at the gas group’s annual general meeting (AGM), which was largely devoted to the subject of decarbonization.
The resolution, tabled by sixteen shareholders representing 1.9% of the capital but disapproved by the group’s board of directors, asked Engie to submit the progress of its climate plan to the AGM each year. It received 24.38% of votes for and 75.62% of votes against. This request “has received the support of a number of our shareholders, and so it is something that the Board will take into account in its reflections on how to continue the dialogue on these climate issues,” reacted the Chairman of the Board, Jean-Pierre Clamadieu.
“We are therefore waiting for Engie to specify how they intend to fill the gaps in their climate plan,” reacted the NGO Reclaim Finance, in a statement Wednesday evening. “The ball is now in the government’s court and it must respond to this plebiscite by extending the Say on Climate (consultation of shareholders on the climate strategy of companies, editor’s note) to all large companies,” said Antoine Laurent, head of advocacy France of the NGO. As of December 31, 2022, the French State held 23.64% of Engie’s shares and 33.56% of voting rights.
Previously, Engie’s investors (including APG, Ircantec, La Banque Postale AM, La Financière de l’Echiquier, Mirova, Meeschaert AM) had noted “constructive exchanges” with management for several years. But “we want to encourage the group to go further,” explained Bertille Knuckey, of Sycomore Asset Management, on their behalf. “We are not questioning the group’s strategy, we are asking for more transparency (…) We want to understand, for example, why it is still impossible today for Engie to put its trajectory in a path to fight against a global warming of 1.5 degrees by the end of the century,” she said.
The group, historically dedicated to gas but in the process of diversifying, has once again described its strategy, with strong ambitions in electricity (wind power in particular) and renewable gases (biogas, hydrogen). Engie explains that it has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 33% compared to 2017, closed or sold most of its coal assets, and is aiming for carbon neutrality in 2045, although it has not set a date for leaving fossil gas.
Rather than a warming limited to 1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial era, it sticks to the objective “well below 2°C”. Aiming for 1.5°C would mean “ceasing a certain number of activities at our plants” by 2030, a “very short deadline” when the group must also “contribute to the resilience of the country’s energy system”, explained Julia Maris, in charge of the group’s social and environmental responsibility (SER).
