It’s confirmed: QBE Insurance will face shareholder scrutiny of their continued insuring of fossil fuel projects at their upcoming Annual General Meeting (AGM).
On Wednesday 4 March, SIX and Australian Ethical Investment handed QBE (ASX:QBE) the paperwork to put our shareholder resolutions on the agenda at their AGM on 8 May.
A big thank you to the 120+ shareholders who helped unlock our right to bring a resolution forward in the first place.
Australian Ethical has been engaging with QBE over their failure to manage climate risk for close to a decade, so there’s many issues we could have raised through the resolutions.
Read on to see the specific demands we decided on together.
Resolution 1: Disclosure of climate risk
We’re asking QBE to explain how much of its current insurance business could become unviable because of the physical risks of climate change.
We know they are concerned about this, because they have already started to withdraw insurance from North America and Australia partly due to climate change making it too risky!
We’re also asking QBE to reveal how different climate futures might affect the wider economy and QBE’s financial position.
Resolution 2: Climate risk governance
We’re asking QBE to explain whether its continued insurance of expanding oil and gas projects is an act of self-harm that threatens the company’s future.
We also question whether a board featuring directors of fossil fuels companies is able to appropriately manage these risks.
Remember, of the biggest Australian insurers, QBE is the weakest on fossil fuels. It’s both withdrawing insurance from those most exposed to climate catastrophe risk, while profiting from the activities that exacerbate climate change.
QBE clearly has some explaining to do.
What happens next
- Now that the resolution has been lodged, this gives the opportunity for big investors (like super funds and proxy advisors) to start discussing this issue with QBE.
- SIX and Australian Ethical are organising briefings with big investors to inform them about the resolutions. Big investors can make a difference through publicly declaring voting intentions and voting in favour of the resolution.
- SIX and Australian Ethical will also keep up our engagement with QBE, giving the company the opportunity to act before May.
- If QBE doesn’t take action, the resolution goes to a vote of all shareholders at their AGM on Wednesday 8 May. Shareholders have a right to attend the AGM, speak, and vote on resolutions (including ours) if they would like to.
