Posts Tagged ‘shareholder engagement’
Broad Coalition Calls on CalPERS to Update Approach to Climate Change
For Immediate Release: Monday, September 18, 2023Contact: Elizabeth Brennan (213) 999-2164 SACRAMENTO** | Following record-breaking temperatures, a tropical storm, a hurricane and several megafires throughout California, a growing coalition of organizations is urging CalPERS to update its approach to climate risk in line with its fiduciary duty. The groups are calling on the fund to…
Read moreCalifornia Pensions Fail to Engage: A review of CalPERS’ and CalSTRS’ votes against shareholder climate resolutions
Read the full report. As the impacts of climate change begin to wreak havoc on our bisophere, the fossil fuel divestment movement has gained remarkable momentum. Globally, 1,500 institutions representing over $40 trillion in assets have already committed to some level of divestment from the fossil fuel industry.1 Despite over a decade of pressure from…
Read moreNew report reveals California pensions CalPERS, CalSTRS vote NO on Big Oil shareholder climate resolutions
The retirement systems’ failed shareholder engagement efforts with fossil fuel companies has cost their members $11.9 billion in returns California — A report released today from Fossil Free California reveals that California’s public pensions voted to oppose climate action at major fossil fuel companies and financiers during the 2022 Annual General Meeting season. This exposé…
Read moreCalSTRS Tunes Out Teachers to Engage with Exxon
The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (or, CalSTRS) prides itself on its shareholder engagement with fossil fuel companies. However, by spending their resources, time, and energy on connecting with oil giants like Exxon, CalSTRS has failed to engage with the shareholders who matter most: their own.
Read moreRally for CalSTRS divestment
On Friday, June 12, the Investment Committee of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) meets in West Sacramento. Divestment activists will rally at CalSTRS headquarters to urge that the committee begin the process of divestment from fossil fuels. It’s about time. Over the years, CalSTRS has established an enviable record of concern for the environment. The…
Read moreMore from the campaign launch
Fossil Free California is ramping up on many fronts. Our initial emphasis is on the state’s two big pension funds, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalPERS). That’s why we held this rally to launch the campaign at the CalPERS headquarters in Sacramento. Here are some additional…
Read moreVosburg: Shareholder engagement is futile
On Global Divestment Day, the second campaign-launch speaker in Sacramento was Jane Vosburg, a retired teacher and fervent activist for fossil fuel divestment. She is divestment coordinator for 350 Sonoma County and for the CalSTRS campaign of Fossil Free California. Her speech: “Action on climate change must happen now!” CalSTRS knows this. And CalPERS knows it. They also know that…
Read moreRudolph: Climate change and public health
On Global Divestment Day, 60 climate activists launched the Fossil Free California campaign in front of CalPERS headquarters in Sacramento.Three speakers addressed the need for divestment, Dr. Linda Rudolph, Jane Vosburg, and Russell Kilday-Hicks. Dr. Rudolph, the first speaker, is a CalPERS retiree who worked for 30 years as a preventive medicine physician in both local and state…
Read moreShould we campaign for reinvestment?
Divestment from fossil fuels sends a clear message: if we support coal, oil, and gas companies in any way, we are contributing to the destruction of the habitable environment. When our money — or the money of our institutions, like CalPERS or the University of California — is invested in those companies, our contribution to climate chaos…
Read moreDoes shareholder engagement work?
This post is by Brett Fleishman, senior analyst at 350.org. Big investors like the California Public Employees’ Retirement Fund (CalPERS) are faced with a difficult choice. They can divest completely from fossil fuel companies to make a public statement about climate change. Or they can hold on to them and attempt, as shareholders, to influence…
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