WELLS FARGO & COMPANY | Energy Supply Ratio at WELLS FARGO & COMPANY

Status
Filed
AGM date
Previous AGM date
Proposal number
7
Resolution details
Company ticker
WFC
Lead filer
Comptroller of the City of New York
Resolution ask
Report on or disclose
ESG theme
  • Environment
ESG sub-theme
  • Fossil fuel financing
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Financials
Company HQ country
United States
Resolved clause
Shareholders request Wells Fargo & Company (“Company”) disclose annually its Energy Supply Ratio (“ESR”), defined as its total financing through equity and debt underwriting, and project finance, in low-carbon energy supply relative to that in fossil-fuel energy supply. The disclosure, prepared at reasonable expense and excluding confidential information, shall describe Company’s methodology, including what it classifies as “low carbon” or “fossil fuel.” Company should include lending in its ESR if methodologically sound.
Supporting statement
In 2025, Company stepped back from key public climate and transparency commitments, discontinuing its sector-specific 2030 interim financed emissions targets and its goal to achieve net zero by 2050 for financed emissions.1 Nonetheless, investors expect major global banks to manage the risks associated with the energy transition, including the credit, strategic, legal, and reputational risks, and to capitalize on its opportunities. The energy transition is continuing rapidly. Due in part to the growth of AI data centers and increasing electric vehicle adoption worldwide, global power demand (including in the U.S.) is rising dramatically.2 Between January and June 2025, solar and wind generation grew by a combined 403 terawatt-hours, outpacing the world’s rising power needs.3 These trends can shape energy and transportation sectors and associated global value chains, with meaningful financial implications for energy sources. Investors seek to better assess how Company’s business may be affected and how it has been responding. Company is reportedly among the largest global financers of fossil fuels. It has also disclosed a sustainable finance commitment. Company’s 2025 announcement makes ESR disclosure all the more important because investors now have less visibility into how the bank is managing its long-term energy-related risks and opportunities, risks and opportunities it has previously acknowledged. Annual Company ESR disclosure can reflect the range of Company’s energy supply financing, including the bank’s particular activities, context, as well as energy-financing trends. It does not preclude methodological best practices from emerging over time. A dollar-based metric, such as ESR, would complement and supplement any Company emission-based disclosures. Bloomberg provides (to its clients) ESRs for global banks, however, it does not have access to information on all lending activities.4 Usefully, Bloomberg has published an Implementation Guide5 and the Institute of International Finance has published a whitepaper that provides a potential format for standardized disclosure of methodological design.6 American peer banks, Citi and JPMorgan, now disclose their ESR and methodology, demonstrating that disclosure is feasible and leading market practice. Royal Bank of Canada has also disclosed an ESR methodology to support and measure the progress of its portfolio actions, and Scotiabank committed to disclose its ESR in 2026. We urge the Company to disclose its ESR along with its selected methodology. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Sustainability - Wells Fargo https://www.iea.org/reports/energy-and-ai/energy-supply-for-ai; Global data center power demand to double by 2030 on AI surge: IEA | S&P Global; Global EV Outlook 2025 – Analysis - IEA For The First Time Ever, Renewables Have Overtaken Coal In Global Power Generation https://about.bnef.com/insights/finance/bank-financing-shows-little-progress-on-climate-goals-five-things-to-know/ https://assets.bbhub.io/professional/sites/24/Energy-Supply-Banking-Ratios-Implementation-Guide.pdf IIF White Paper on an Energy Supply Ratio (ESR) for Bank Disclosures > The Institute of International Finance

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