Statement A.P. Moller-Maersk AGM 28 March 2023

Dear Board members, dear fellow shareholders

This statement is read out on behalf of AkademikerPension and EOS at Federated Hermes who have been co-leading the dialogue with Maersk under the investor-led initiative Climate Action 100+ since December 2017. Please allow us to say a few words for context:

Climate Action 100+ aims to ensure the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change. 700 investors, responsible for over USD 68 trillion in assets under management, are engaging companies on improving climate change governance, cutting emissions, and strengthening climate-related financial disclosures.

It is the largest ever global investor engagement initiative on climate change, with growing influence and impact. Investors working through the initiative are now engaged across 33 markets and represent over 50 percent of all global assets under management.

Now back to Maersk’s efforts and progress: Last year we welcomed the publication of an ambitious, accelerated climate strategy for the company which aims to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions across all scopes by 2040.

Many complexities remain on the journey to reaching this goal, but we welcome various important actions the company is taking. Among these are key steps to decarbonise the oceans business: investing in vessels that run on “green” methanol and in partnerships that will deliver alternative, “green” fuels, at scale for the years to come.

The company has engaged in constructive dialogue with the Climate Action 100+ investor group also in the past 12 months since the last AGM, and we would like to take the opportunity to – once again – extend our sincere gratitude for this.

As you know, there are a number of areas where we look to see further progress from the company:

The first is for the company to demonstrate how it is enabling a 'just' transition, including specific actions to mitigate both the social and environmental risks and impacts resulting from the switch to sustainable transport fuels. The company has stated that it will take a human-centred approach that respects international human rights standards, which we welcome. We will look to see further detail on specific actions the company is taking to address any potential or realised risks arising from, for example, land use changes.

The second area where we look to see further progress relates to physical climate risks: The company has already started to identify the physical risks it faces from climate change. The company must now articulate in more detail the actions it will take, in the short and medium term, to mitigate these risks and ensure resilience of its operations and assets. We would like to see a comprehensive climate resilience and adaptation disclosure.

Finally, the third area relates to the alignment of public policy activities: Maersk is a very significant actor in its industry and representative of industry more broadly. And so, it has the ability to influence the public policy environment and a responsibility to use this influence well. We have welcomed steps the company has taken to conduct an assessment of industry associations of which it is a member and the policy positions and associated activities these bodies take regarding climate change, in order to ensure alignment with the company’s own position. The company has provided some initial reporting on this work and the steps it has taken where misalignment has been found. We would like to see this disclosure continue to develop to bring the company at least in-line with the standards set by Indicator 7 of the publicly available CA100+ Net Zero Company Benchmark and, ideally, the Global Standard on Responsible Climate Lobbying.
We look forward to our continued dialogue and stand ready to provide input and feedback on the company’s work in these areas as usual.

We wish you, and all the 110,000+ employees of Maersk, a successful year on your journey to net-zero.

Thank you.