The promoters of green finance, strongly mobilized to make the presentation of climate resolutions (“say on climate”) obligatory in general assemblies, denounced on Tuesday the sidelining of this amendment in the green industry law.
Voted in the heart of summer by the National Assembly against the government’s advice, the amendment say on climate, aimed at consulting shareholders on the climate strategy of listed companies, was removed from the text coming out of the joint joint committee to establish a consensus between the two parliamentary chambers.
It required listed companies to present their climate and sustainability strategy to their shareholders every three years. A vote, non-binding for the board of directors, was planned at the end.
“It’s a missed opportunity,” commented Grégoire Coust, general director of the Forum for Responsible Investment (FIR), an organization promoting sustainable finance. This shows the general reluctance of companies to open dialogue, he added.
The NGO Reclaim Finance regretted in a press release that the government and parliamentarians had given in to pressure from lobbies, citing in particular the French Association of Private Enterprises (Afep).
There is no consensus either on the part of companies or investors on the interest of a say on climate and the self-regulation of the sector works, assured Afep in July, when the amendment was voted on.
This measure was a minimum useful measure to support investors wishing to invest in a more responsible manner, which costs nothing and which is very consensual, according to Antoine Laurent, advocacy manager for Reclaim Finance.
We will remain combative because the say on climate is in the direction of the story. The question is not whether if but rather When this will be put in place, and we will seize all the next opportunities, at the French or European level, also assured to AFP Adrien Couret, general director of Ama Groupe, which brings together in particular the insurer Macif and the manager of Ofi Invest assets.
In 2023 in France, eight companies including TotalEnergies, Schneider Electric and Klpierre have proposed this vote during their general meeting according to a report from the FIR and the Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe).
At the Minister of Economy and Finance, it is estimated that the implementation of this measure would have penalized the attractiveness of the Parisian financial center.