Melanie Burton
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – International investors with $2.2 trillion in assets have told commodities giant Glencore Plc how thermal coal development is meeting the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees. will be requested to show
Glencore is one of the world’s largest producers and traders of fossil fuels used in power generation, with record prices for the commodity generating nearly $10 billion in revenue in the six months from June to June increased.
In a joint statement, major institutional investors, including European Legal and General Investment Management (LGIM), told Glencore how its production and capital spending plans align with Paris targets and the International Energy Agency’s Net Zero Emissions Pathway. It said it co-sponsored a shareholder resolution seeking clarification. .
Dror Elkayam said, “Having both invested and been involved in Glencore for many years, I’ve been curious about how the company’s exposure to thermal coal aligns with the 1.5C pathway and how it responds to its net zero commitment. We need a higher degree of transparency to clarify what we are doing.” , Investment Stewardship Analyst at LGIM.
Other investors include the Swiss-based Ethos Foundation, Australian pension fund Vision Super and HSBC Asset Management.
The resolution will be put up for vote at Glencore’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in 2024.
Glencore has committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and responsibly operating mines producing thermal coal, the most polluting fossil fuel, by the mid-2040s.
But at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in April, nearly a quarter of investors voted against the climate change report.
At the time, an Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change (IIGCC) Member Alert said, “Glencore will need to significantly reduce coal production over the next decade to be consistent with a 1.5 degree scenario.”
Glencore produced 103.3 million tonnes in 2021 from mines in Australia, South Africa and Colombia.
(Reporting by Melanie Burton; Editing by Kim Coghill)
