Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce | Annual advisory vote on climate action plan at Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce

Status
16.81% votes in favour
AGM date
Previous AGM date
Proposal number
2
Resolution details
Company ticker
CM:CN
Lead filer
Mouvement d'éducation et de défense des actionnaires (MÉDAC)
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 establish an annual advisory vote policy with respect to its environmental and climate change action plan and objectives.
Whereas clause
We submitted this proposal at the 2022 annual meetings and it received strong support from the shareholders at TD (25.4%), CIBC (22.7%), National Bank (22%), Royal Bank (20.2%), Scotia (19.3%) and BMO (15%). In addition, Laurentian Bank committed to implementing a non-binding environmental advisory vote once it has established a baseline for its funded emissions.
Supporting statement
According to the most recent report released by Rainforest, the Big Five banks provided more than $131 billion in capital to oil companies in 2021, and this funding was up from 2020. It should be noted that the Big Five banks have lent or underwritten nearly $700B in capital to fossil fuel companies since the Paris Climate Agreement was signed in December 2015.
One might question the scope of the actual plans implemented by these banks to fulfill their commitment to join the Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) launched by former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney in 2015 and to play a leading role in financing the climate transition to achieve net zero emissions by 2050. We therefore reiterate our proposal to implement a non-binding advisory vote so that shareholders can express their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the Bank’s environmental policy.

How other organisations have declared their voting intentions

Organisation name Declared voting intentions Rationale
Rathbones Group Plc For Rathbones will generally support shareholder resolutions making reasonable requests for increased transparency regarding ESG matters

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