A trio of major asset owners has put forward a resolution for Toyota’s upcoming AGM, challenging the car giant on its climate lobbying practices and alignment with the Paris Agreement.
The resolution proposes to amend the car giants Articles of Incorporation, requiring it to conduct an annual review of its lobbying practices on climate change and its alignment with the Paris Agreement.
The alliance includes APG, the asset management wing of the €465nbn) Dutch public sector pension fund ABP and Storebrand Asset Management, which manages €98.4bn in assets as well as Kapitalforeningen MP invest, which invests among others on behalf of the €17bn Akademiker Pension.
The move represents a first challenge for the recently appointed CEO Koji Sato (pictured).
Toyota is a signatory to the Paris Agreement but has been in the firing line for its climate lobbying practices and failure to adopt its fleet to the net zero transition.
In order to meet the targets set in the Paris Agreements, car manufacturers would have to phase out internal combustion engines by 2030.
While Toyota has established a range of hybrid cars, only 14,000 of the more than 10m cars it sold globally were pure electric vehicles. It is therefore on track to overshoot the targets set in the Paris Agreements by 184%, according to Greenpeace. This puts the car manufacturer at the bottom of the list of 500 car producers globally, according to the 2022 Auto Environment Guide produced by Greenpeace.
The vote follows two years of unsuccessful engagement with the car giant, says Akademiker Pension CIO Anders Schelde. He stresses that the lack of climate targets has now become an investment risk: "We’re concerned that Toyota is missing out on profits from soaring EV sales, jeopardizing its valuable brand, and cementing its global laggard status. We welcomed the dialogue and annual disclosure but we need concrete policy changes and a better annual review drawing on independent data to calm international investors.”
The biggest shareholders in Toyota are Japanese firms, led by the Master Trust Bank of Japan, Toyota Industries Corporation, Custody Bank of Japan and Nippon Life Insurance.
Toyota’s board of directors has announced that it rejects the proposal.
