Asia-focused Investor Guide Launched – Guide supports engagement with companies in Asia towards net zero transition

ClientEarth and Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC) today announced the launch of an investor guide, “Net zero engagement in Asia: a guide to shareholder climate resolutions”. With the growing urgency of climate change, corporate engagement on climate in Asia, once considered a novelty, has transformed in the last five years into a new but widely accepted form of stewardship. This comes against the backdrop of increasing regulatory focus in Asia on net zero transition pathways for the corporate sectors. Investors are squarely confronting the importance of Paris-aligned strategies for the companies that they invest in, and engaging with companies on climate-related matters.

The investor guide is a resource for Asia-focused investors considering shareholder resolutions as a complement to broader engagement options when exercising responsible stewardship on climate matters. In the investor guide, 11 leading corporate law experts across Asia provide expert analysis on the framework for shareholder climate resolutions in Japan, South Korea, India, the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong SAR, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines. Each jurisdiction’s expert also provides a brief summary of key developments relevant to climate risk and ESG in 2021-22 in that jurisdiction, to situate investor engagement within its appropriate local context.

Rebecca Mikula-Wright, Chief Executive Officer, AIGCC said: “The investor guide is timely in view of growing global scrutiny of climate-related financial risks faced by corporations. Approaches in different jurisdictions will vary, but global momentum for engagement dialogue complemented with shareholder proposals on climate is increasing – and Asia is not immune to this trend.

“Investors have called for increased engagement with Asian corporates on the adoption of net zero transition strategies. Asian regulators are progressively encouraging the adoption and disclosure of Paris Agreement-aligned transition strategies, alongside a heightened focus on effective corporate engagement.”

Elizabeth Wu, Legal Consultant, ClientEarth added, “We are grateful for the invaluable insights provided by 11 top corporate law experts on the legal landscape in key Asian jurisdictions. This contributes to ongoing discourse on investor-corporate engagement and responsible stewardship in Asia.”

The investor guide was launched during an event that brought together regulatory, legal and investment leaders to discuss corporate engagement strategies for the net zero transition in Asia. Satoshi Ikeda, Chief Sustainable Finance Officer of Japan’s Financial Services Agency delivered the keynote. Rebecca Mikula-Wright, the CEO of AIGCC, also provided insights along with a panel of industry experts from APG Asset Management, HSBC Asset Management, Legal & General Investment Management, and Skrine. The event also featured the Climate Action 100+ Investor Guide for Engaging in Asia, which provides guidance to investors engaging with Asian corporates in relation to the Climate Action 100+ Net Zero Company Benchmark.

Both guides are designed to support investors in ongoing dialogue with Asian companies and other key stakeholders as they bridge expectations between company practices and alignment with realistic net zero transition plans. They can be used in parallel to complement effective and appropriate corporate engagement in Asia.

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