affects both the firms' operations and investors' reactions. The paper was published this month in the"From an ethical perspective, our results highlight the growing importance of shareholder proposals on climate change, especially those related to how firms will perform in a low-carbon economy by addressing carbon risk, reducing emissions and increasing environmental performance," said Griffin.
Further, these shareholders' activism on climate change, through proposals submitted for consideration at a firm's annual general meeting, can persuade firms to make often costly changes to their operations. Researchers examined 944 shareholder proposals submitted to 343 U.S. firms on climate change issued from 2009 to 2022. Of those proposals, 400 qualified for inclusion in the firm's proxy statement, which then guaranteed their eligibility for a vote at the firm's annual general meeting.Shareholder proposals must meet certain requirements to be accepted for a vote.