TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION | Climate-related lobbying activities and the goals of the Paris agreement at TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION

Status
9.30% votes in favour
AGM date
Previous AGM date
Proposal number
4
Resolution details
Company ticker
7203.T
Lead filer
AkademikerPension
Resolution ask
Adopt or amend a policy
ESG theme
  • Environment
ESG sub-theme
  • Lobbying / political engagement
  • Net Zero / Paris aligned
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Consumer Discretionary
Company HQ country
Japan
Resolved clause
It is proposed that the following provision be added to the Articles of Incorporation. The provision number will be decided by the Company. “The Company shall issue a comprehensive and objective report annually (at reasonable cost, omitting proprietary information) describing if, and how, the Company’s climate-related lobbying activities (own direct and indirect through industry associations both in key markets) align, overall, with the goals of the Paris Agreement. The report should disclose any instances of misalignment with those goals, along with the planned actions to address these.”
Whereas clause
The new provision in the Articles of Incorporation is intended to ensure that the Company makes robust disclosures, as part of its annual reporting, of (i) which lobbying activities directed at the issue of climate change the group companies are pursuing (whether directly or indirectly through influencing the legislative and administrative process or through public influence activities), and (ii) the extent to which these serve to reduce risks for the group companies from climate change and how they are aligned with the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal of the Paris Agreement of 12 December 2015.

The proposing shareholder recognizes and appreciates that the Company issued a third report on climate-related lobbying in January 2024; “Toyota’s Views on Climate Public Policies 2023”. However, like the second report, this report falls far short of investor expectations as set forth, for example, by the Climate Action 100+ Net Zero Company Benchmarks for Climate Policy Engagement. Using the CA100+ Benchmark criteria, the InfluenceMap January 2024 assessment of Toyota’s 2023 report found no improvement from the Company’s 2022 report, scoring it 21/100.

The proposing shareholder supports the Company in strengthening the Company’s disclosures in 1) scope, covering the Company’s own climate policy engagement activities and relevant associations in key global markets engaging on cli-mate change policies, and 2) rigour in the analysis of potential misalignment with the 1.5 degrees Celsius goal of the Paris Agreement. Such disclosures could serve to mitigate reputational and other risks, including potential backlash from customers, business partners, employees and investors associated with the Company’s climate-related lobbying activities in recent years. The proposing shareholder and like-minded institutional shareholders of the Company have engaged intensively and constructively with the Company since 2021 and encourage the Board of Directors to support and recommend a vote for this proposal.

- Nothing in this email/document is intended to be, nor should it be construed as, a “solicitation of proxies” under the FIEA. The shareholder is not soliciting any action based upon this document and will not be responsible for any decision by any shareholder or other person based on, or by reference to, any information given or opinions expressed in this email/document.

How other organisations have declared their voting intentions

Organisation name Declared voting intentions Rationale
VidaCaixa For
Anima Sgr For An evaluation of how the company's lobbying activities align with the Paris Agreement goals would help shareholders better evaluate the company's risk related to its lobbying activities.
Allianz Global Investors For While we observed encouraging improvements on lobbying organization coverage and introduction of a third-party assessment in the latest 'Toyota's Views on Climate Public Policies', in our view these reports still fall short of demonstrating how TMC's climate lobbying approaches are aligned with a Paris Agreement path. Gaps could give rise to reputational risks and we encourage more granular reporting on interaction with associations, for example escalation case studies. Support is warranted on this SHR.
Kutxabank Gestion SGIIC SAU. Against

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.