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Investors have asked HSBC to stop lending to fossil fuel companies, especially those in the highly polluting coal sector.
- A total of 15 institutional investors and 117 individual investors have backed a resolution asking HSBC to set targets based on the international Paris climate agreement.
- Some of the prominent signatories are Europe’s largest asset manager Amundi and Man Group, the world’s biggest publicly traded hedge fund.’
- Amundi’s head of ESG research, voting and engagement, Caroline Le Meaux has stated that their priority is engaging with companies on energy transition and decarbonisation of their activities. He added that phasing out of coal is the major step to achieve this goal.
(Image source: ©Kalkine Group 2020)
- The investors will vote on the resolution at April’s AGM. At least 75 per cent of investors should vote on the resolution to bring in a change in the company policy.
- Recently in October, HSBC had expressed its commitment to turn net-zero by 2050, which again has been criticised by the climate groups to be too long a timescale and also for funding project and companies adding to climate change.
- On 11 January 2021, the stocks of HSBC Holdings Plc (LON: HSBA), traded lower by 0.21% from its previous closing, hovering at around GBX 410.90 at 11:41 AM GMT+1.
