Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. | Amendment to articles of incorporation (issue & disclose climate transition plan) at Mizuho Financial Group, Inc.

Status
20.00% votes in favour
AGM date
Previous AGM date
Proposal number
2
Resolution details
Company ticker
8411
Lead filer
Market Forces
Co-filers
Rainforest Alliance, Kiko Network
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
Japan
Resolved clause
The Proposal
Partial amendment to the Articles of Incorporation (issuing and disclosing a transition plan to align lending
and investment portfolios with the Paris Agreement's 1.5 degree goal requiring net zero emissions by
2050)
Whereas clause
The following clause shall be added to the Articles of Incorporation:
Chapter: “Transition Plan (Portfolio Alignment)”
Clause: “Issuing and disclosing a transition plan to align lending and investment portfolios with the Paris
Agreement's 1.5 degree goal requiring net zero emissions by 2050”
1. In order to fulfil the Company’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 in its lending and
investment portfolios, the Company shall set and disclose a transition plan to align its portfolios, in
the short-, medium- and long-term, with credible pathways to net zero emissions by 2050 or
sooner, including strategic policy commitments and targets for significant GHG-intensive sectors
within its portfolios, considering the full range of Scope 3 value chain emissions.
2. The Company shall report on its progress against such a transition plan and targets in its annual
reporting.
Supporting statement
This proposal requests that the Company disclose information required for shareholders to determine the
integrity of the Company’s plans to achieve its net zero emissions by 2050 commitment, and for the
Company to appropriately manage climate change risks, and maintain and increase the Company's
long-term corporate value.
The Company is exposed to substantial financial risk, given its significant involvement in carbon-intensive
sectors such as fossil fuels. However, the Company has not set and disclosed sufficient targets or policy
commitments to align its exposures to the most GHG-intensive sectors with a net zero emissions by 2050
pathway.
It is, therefore, critical for the Company to ensure the integrity of its climate goals and transition plans by
setting and disclosing such targets and strategic policy commitments, which should align with the
trajectories and key conclusions of credible net zero emissions by 2050 scenarios, such as the
International Energy Agency’s. Global peers of the Company are already disclosing this type of
information.
The disclosure this proposal seeks is commonly expected among investors through the Task Force on
Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), and international standard setting initiatives such as the Net
Zero Banking Alliance.

https://shareholderaction.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/2023-04-Japanese-banks-shareholder-proposal_-Mizuho-JP-and-EN.pdf
https://shareholderaction.asia/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/for-sharing-2023-04-Japanese-banks-investor-briefing-1.pdf

How other organisations have declared their voting intentions

Organisation name Declared voting intentions Rationale
BPI Gestão de Ativos - SGOIC, SA For

DISCLAIMER: By including a shareholder resolution or management proposal in this database, neither the PRI nor the sponsor of the resolution or proposal is seeking authority to act as proxy for any shareholder; shareholders should vote their proxies in accordance with their own policies and requirements.

Any voting recommendations set forth in the descriptions of the resolutions and management proposals included in this database are made by the sponsors of those resolutions and proposals, and do not represent the views of the PRI.

Information on the shareholder resolutions, management proposals and votes in this database have been obtained from sources that are believed to be reliable, but the PRI does not represent that it is accurate, complete, or up-to-date, including information relating to resolutions and management proposals, other signatories’ vote pre-declarations (including voting rationales), or the current status of a resolution or proposal. You should consult companies’ proxy statements for complete information on all matters to be voted on at a meeting.