Swiss, UK pension investors file climate resolution at Credit Suisse

Co-ordinated by Ethos Foundation and NGO ShareAction, 11 institutional investors have requisitioned a climate shareholder resolution at Credit Suisse due to concerns about the activities the bank finances.

In a statement, the bank acknowledged the proposal and said details about preliminary reductions in its exposure to financing the oil, gas and coal sector, would be out soon.

The co-filing group is made up of investors with CHF2bn (€1.96bn) in assets under management and includes Amundi, LGPS Central in the UK, and several Swiss pension funds and pension investors: the pension fund for the canton of Bern and Berner teachers, CAP Prévoyance, Caisse Inter-Entreprises de Prévoyance Professionnelle, Ethos Services, Swiss Post, Publica, and the Pensionskasse for the city of Zurich.

Swiss shareholder campaign group Actares is also supporting the proposal.

According to the text of the shareholder resolution, the investors are concerned about the financial, regulatory, and reputational risks that Credit Suisse exposes itself by financing activities that appear incompatible with the bank’s goal of aligning its financing with the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to +1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.

The resolution aims to modify the articles of association to require the bank to report more information in the form of additional disclosures about its Paris Agreement alignment strategy and short, medium- and long-term steps it plans to take to reduce its exposure to coal and oil and gas assets “on a timeline consistent with its own alignment objective”.

According to the co-ordinators, if the proposal makes it onto the agenda for the AGM, which is on 29 April, it would be the first climate-related shareholder resolution to be voted on at a Swiss company.

Vincent Kaufmann, chief executive officer of Ethos, said it had been engaging with Credit Suisse for many years on the issue of its financing of fossil fuel energy and that although some progress had been made, it remained the Swiss bank most exposed to fossil energy.

“Its inadequate response to numerous governance issues as well as its insufficient climate policy has prompted Ethos and several of its members to co-file this resolution requesting Credit Suisse to significantly improve its transparency and re-enforce its fossil fuel financing and investment policy,” he said.

In the text of the resolution, the represented investors cited research from a group of NGOs that puts Credit Suisse as Europe’s fourth largest financer of fossil fuels, and the 19th biggest globally.

They also said that although the bank had significantly improved its coal policy over the years, “important questions remain about its applicability” with core tenets of the policy not applying to Credit Suisse’s asset management arm.

Credit Suisse: ‘preliminary reductions’ reporting out soon

In a statement, the bank said its “sustainability position is clear”, having made a public commitment to achieve net zero across its operations, supply chain and financing activities by 2050.

“This ambition is underpinned by interim science-based goals by 2030,” the bank continued. “Importantly, our sustainability approach includes sector-specific climate strategies. As a high-carbon emitter, the oil, gas and coal sector has been prioritised as an area where we are committed to set science-based goals that help us to monitor the reduction of both emissions and lending exposure.

“This extends to supporting our clients through application of client energy transition frameworks, as we recognise the role we play in engaging our clients to participate in the low carbon transition.”

It added: “Engagement with shareholders was an essential part of its stakeholder approach and we acknowledge the proposal brought by ShareAction and Ethos Foundation on behalf of the represented shareholders, with whom we broadly consult and engage in dialogue.”

“Detail of important progress, including preliminary reductions in our exposure to financing the oil, gas and coal sector, is available in our 2021 Sustainability Report, which we expect to publish on March 10.”

[Update: the report was indeed published on 10 March, with one of the pieces of information being that the bank anticipates a preliminary reduction of 41% between 2020 and 2021 in its oil, gas and coal financed emissions exposure.]

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