Below are key takeaways from ISS’ recently released report titled Climate on the Proxy Ballot: A Decade in Review (2016–2025). The full report is available to institutional subscribers by logging into ProxyExchange then selecting the Knowledge Center and its Library tab and to corporate subscribers by logging into Compass then selecting Governance and the Governance Library or Governance Exchange tab.
If you are not a subscriber, you can download a copy of the full report here.
Shareholder proposals
- Climate‑related shareholder proposals that actually reached corporate ballots have declined materially over the past two years, falling from a peak of 157 in 2023 to 143 in 2024 (‑9%) and further to 103 in 2025 (‑34.4% from 2023).
- The decline is particularly pronounced in the energy sector, where the number of climate‑related proposals appearing on corporate ballots fell from 38 in 2023 to 17 in 2024 and just eight in 2025. Exxon’s early‑2024 challenge to proposals from Follow This and Arjuna Capital may have contributed to increased caution among filers in this sector.
- The U.S. continues to account for the majority of climate-related shareholder proposals appearing on ballots in 2025, with 54 of the 103 items (52.4%). Canada remains the second‑largest market, with 22 proposals reaching a vote, followed by Japan with 14.
- Average support for climate‑related shareholder resolutions has continued to decline, falling from 18.3% in 2023 to 16.0% in 2024 and further to 12.1% in 2025.
- Climate‑related shareholder proposals continue to center primarily on climate strategy and on metrics‑and‑ In 2025, strategy‑focused resolutions received an average of 10.1% support (down from 12.2% in 2024), while metrics‑ and‑targets proposals averaged 14.6% support (compared with 23.4% in 2024).
- Although the number of fossil‑fuel‑financing resolutions has declined since 2023, the category remains significant: after surging in 2022 with 31 proposals, it still accounted for 28 items on ballots in 2025.
- Resolutions calling on energy providers to phase out fossil fuels and/or expand renewable generation have declined sharply over the past two years, falling to as few as 15 in 2024–2025, compared with more than 30 during the 2022–2023 period.
Management proposals
- The number of management Say‑on‑Climate (SoC) proposals has remained in the low‑30s for the third consecutive year. Average support edged down to 87.7% in 2025, compared with 88.3% in 2024 and 89.8% in 2023.
- Australian Woodside Energy Group’s climate‑transition plan, presented at its 2024 AGM, became the first such plan to be voted down by shareholders.
- With only four first‑time management Say‑on‑Climate (SoC) filers, 2025 marks the lowest annual number of new submitters since 2021.
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By:
Thibaut Barsacq, Victoria Evrard, Catherine Salmon
