ICCR: Leveraging Investments for People and the Planet

As a founding member of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), the Pension Boards collaborates on social justice initiatives by filing resolutions on climate, racial justice, and corporate governance issues. Our social justice efforts are closely tied to ICCR as investors and in response to the United Church of Christ’s historic witness.

Each year, ICCR reports the outcomes of its advocacy work on various issues well-known to the UCC. Here are a few pertinent highlights:

• In 2021, for the third consecutive year, climate crisis and racial justice / Diversity, Equity and Inclusion resolutions remained predominant.
• ICCR members continued to make the case that management of environmental and social risks, alongside corporate governance practices, significantly improves long-term corporate value to the benefit of all stakeholders.
• ICCR members filed 454 shareholder proposals requesting information and suggesting changes on a range of challenges, including the climate crisis, worker rights, health equity, equitable global supply chains, and corporate lobbying and political spending, among others.

Shareholder proposals seeking stronger disclosure of how a company’s climate lobbying aligns with the Paris Agreement goals won significant majority votes:

• Phillips 66 with a 64.4% vote on a proposal filed by California State Teachers Retirement System;
• Norfolk Southern Corp with a 76.4% vote on a proposal filed by Friends Fiduciary Corp.; and United Church Funds;
• ExxonMobil with a 63.8% vote on a proposal filed by BNP Paribas Asset Management;
• United Airlines with a 65.4% vote on a proposal filed by Presbyterian Church USA, and;
• Delta with a majority vote on a proposal filed by BNP Paribas Asset Management. Delta has not yet reported the percentage.

The majority votes—one as high as 76.4%--and the string of corporate commitments are an indication of how serious the investment community is about tackling what they view as the ever-increasing systemic risk of climate change.

Investors want strong climate policies to protect the economy and their portfolios, and so that they can make investment choices with greater certainty.

About the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)

ICCR is the pioneer coalition of shareholder advocates who view the management of their investments as a catalyst for social change. Its 300-member organizations comprise faith communities, socially responsible asset managers, unions, pensions, NGOs and other socially responsible investors with combined assets of over $4 trillion. ICCR members engage hundreds of corporations annually in an effort to foster greater corporate accountability.