AMERICAN WATER WORKS COMPANY, INC. | Climate transition plan reporting at AMERICAN WATER WORKS COMPANY, INC.

Status
Withdrawn
AGM date
Resolution details
Company ticker
AWK
Lead filer
proxy impact
Resolution ask
Report on or disclose
ESG theme
  • Environment
ESG sub-theme
  • Net Zero / Paris aligned
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Utilities
Company HQ country
United States
Resolved clause
Shareholders request that American Water Works issue a report within a year, and annually
thereafter, at reasonable expense and excluding confidential information, disclosing medium- and long-term
greenhouse gas targets aligned with the Paris Agreement’s goal of maintaining global temperature rise at 1.5
degrees Celsius, and progress made in achieving them. This reporting should cover the Company’s full scope of
operational and product related emissions.
Whereas clause
The increasing rate and number of climate related disasters affecting society is causing alarms to be
raised globally, making the corporate sector’s contribution to climate mitigation a significant policy issue.
Shareholders are increasingly concerned about material climate risk to their companies and seek clear and
consistent company disclosures including credible climate transitions plans. BlackRock’s CEO notes that
investment flows into “sustainable” and climate aligned assets will drive long-term outperformancei and that
companies should disclose plans for how their business model will be compatible with a net zero economy.
In response to material climate risk, the Climate Action 100 initiative, a coalition of 600+ investors with over $60
trillion in assets, issued a NetZero Benchmark outlining metrics that create climate accountability for companies
and transparency for shareholders. Indicators 1 through 5 of the Benchmark seek reporting on companies’ net
zero emissions ambitions; short, medium and long term greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goals; and strategic
actions planned to achieve decarbonization targets.ii
American Water Works is the largest and most geographically diverse publicly traded water and wastewater
treatment utility company in the United States with approximately 90 percent of its electricity consumption and
over 80 percent of GHG emissions related to water pumping.iii Our company discloses GHG emissions, is
increasing solar capacity, and is on track to meet a short term 2025 GHG reduction for scope 1 and 2 emissions.
While these are credible first steps, it has not set medium and long-term targets to reduce scope 1 or 2 GHG
emissions nor set any goals for scope 3 emission. The company does not have a Net Zero commitment, has not
set any goals in line with the Science Based Targets Initiative, nor disclosed a plan for how to achieve Parisaligned GHG emissions reductions.
By setting and disclosing medium and long-term GHG emissions reduction targets, including net zero ambitions,
and developing and disclosing a clear climate transition plan, our company can assure investors that
management is reducing its full climate impact, building on climate-related opportunities, and addressing growing
climate risk, including customers’ access to water due to extreme weather events.
Supporting statement
Proponents suggest, at Company discretion, the report describe: Š The Company’s climate transition plan for achieving its GHG reduction goals over time, including aligned capital allocation where relevant.

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