Tomorrow, at Kinder Morgan’s Annual General Meeting of shareholders, Chief Judy Wilson, Neskonlith Indian Band (Secwepemc Nation) will present a shareholder resolution calling for an annual sustainability report, allowing companies to publicise and gain strategic value from existing sustainability efforts and identify emerging risks and opportunities.
The resolution, filed on behalf of the New York State Common Retirement Fund argues that environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues can pose significant risks to business, and without proper disclosure, stakeholders and analysts cannot ascertain whether the company is managing its ESG exposure.
As an example, the resolution points out that opposition to Kinder Morgan’s Trans-Mountain Pipeline from Canadian and Indigenous and community groups has already delayed Kinder Morgan’s operations to 2019.
Ahead of Kinder Morgan’s annual general meeting of shareholders, influential proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has come out in support of a shareholder resolution calling for the company to increase sustainability disclosure.
In addition, nearly 1300 SumOfUs members used the organisation’s OurPension tool to contact their pension fund managers and urge them to support the shareholder resolution.
“The link between sustainability disclosure and shareholder value is clear,” explained Emma Pullman, Lead Campaign Strategist for SumOfUs of the proposal. “Shareholders deserve to have a full suite of information that helps them understand how sustainability issues and risks are being managed. This is particularly critical with Kinder Morgan’s planned CAN$7.4 billion Trans Mountain expansion project.”