A court case has been launched against the Commonwealth Bank (CBA) after it rejected a shareholder request for it to reveal the level of greenhouse gas emissions it finances. Activist group the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR), which is a minor shareholder in the CBA, banded together with more than 100 other shareholders to ask the bank to report on the amount of carbon pollution it finances. The resolution also called on the bank to outline its exposure to “unburnable carbon”, referring to fossil fuel projects that are unlikely to go ahead due to economic trends and global action to mitigate climate change. ACCR lodged a case in the federal court on Tuesday challenging the CBA’s refusal to put the resolution to shareholders at its upcoming annual general meeting. If it were put to shareholders, the resolution would require a simple majority to pass. The group argued shareholders have the right to put ordinary resolutions about the management of a company at an annual general meeting. If the test case is successful, it will allow shareholders to put greater pressure on corporations, such as banks, over issues such as climate change and human rights. Read more: theguardian/environment/2014/oct/14/commonweath-bank-sued-in-bid-to-reveal-carbon-pollution-it-finances?CMP=soc_567
Posted on: Tue, 14 Oct 2014 09:13:26 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015