Royal Bank of Canada | Advisory vote on environmental policy

Status
21.55% votes in favour
AGM date
Proposal number
5
Resolution details
Company ticker
RY:CN
Lead filer
-
Resolution ask
Adopt or amend a policy
ESG theme
  • Environment
ESG sub-theme
  • Fossil fuel financing
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Financials
Company HQ country
Canada
Resolved clause
It is proposed that the bank adopt an annual advisory vote policy regarding its environmental and climate change objectives and action
plan.
Supporting statement
At the banks’ 2018 annual shareholder meetings, we presented a shareholder proposal inviting them to annually publish a brief report
allowing their shareholders to assess their exposure to climate risk and their contribution to the transition towards a low carbon
economy. Your sustainable development and social responsibility reports reflect the actions taken or being considered to activate the
country’s clean economy over the next few years.
One report published in December 2020 by the Rainforest Action Network1 led us to question the relevance of the proposed objectives
and action plans. According to this report, RBC, TD and Scotia are among the top 10 global companies that finance fossil fuels,
contributing over $89 billion to oil companies in 2019. BMO and CIBC ranked 16th and 21st, with a total of nearly $42 billion.
The financing of such activities and the fact that it was sustained over the last few years is far from the type of behaviour needed to
address the alarming conclusions of the draft report published in June 2021 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Even more alarming than the final report published in 2014, this draft estimates that no matter the rate at which greenhouse gas
emissions are reduced, the devastating consequences of global warming on nature (and humans who depend on it) will accelerate and
become painfully obvious well before 2050; as these experts explain,2 “[l]ife on earth can recover from a drastic climate shift by evolving
into new species and creating new ecosystems. Humans cannot.”
In addition to these data, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, Tiff Macklem, expressed his concern in a speech he gave in November
2020, where he made a plea for the country to more quickly address climate change so as to avoid any economic ripple effects on
households and businesses. He invited financial institutions to better gauge what risk they face in this area.3
For all of these reasons, it is proposed that the Bank agree to adopt an advisory vote policy in respect of its environmental and climate
objectives and action plan so as to verify that it meets the expectations of its shareholders and all stakeholders.

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