UNITED STATES: Procter & Gamble Co. (P&G), the company that makes Tide detergent, will conduct its annual shareholder meeting on Tuesday. Environmental groups want to oppose Chief Executive Jon Moeller in his position as board chairman, and some investors plan to vote against him.
Because P&G has allegedly taken “insufficient action” to address the risks associated with deforestation in its supply chain, environmental non-profits like Friends of the Earth and the Natural Resources Defense Council urged shareholders to vote against Moeller for chairman and against two other board members.
Since the company uses virgin wood pulp to produce paper goods like Charmin and Bounty, the groups have long targeted P&G.
The organisations demand that an impartial chair be appointed in place of Moeller.
According to voting announcements, the New York State Common Retirement Fund, New York City pension funds, and the socially conscious investment firm Trillium Asset Management intend to vote against Moeller and the two board directors, Patricia Woertz and Angela Braly.
Woertz is a member of the committee that Braly chairs, which is responsible for governance and public accountability.
Investors have high expectations of P&G and its board following the passage of a shareholder resolution in 2020 requesting that it submit a report on how it should strengthen efforts to end deforestation, according to Trillium’s Chief Advocacy Officer Jonas Kron.
According to a voting announcement posted on its website, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund also intends to vote against Moeller. The fund states in its voting policies that it opposes a CEO sitting as a board chair. The representative made no more comments.
Shareholders should back Moeller and the two directors, according to Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. and Glass Lewis, two highly regarded voting advice providers.
Given “ongoing worries” over deforestation, ISS advised investors to exercise prudence while backing Moeller and the directors. NRDC likewise urged investors to oppose Braly last year. While other directors received more than 90% of the vote, she received fewer votes.
This summer, P&G announced in an update that it would try to stop sourcing pulp, a crucial component of its best-selling Charmin toilet paper, from some Canadian forests and would create a plan to acquire less of the raw material from other areas of woodland.
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