In late June, a climate-related proposal set before the annual general shareholders’ meeting of Mizuho Financial Group was soundly rejected after receiving a little over a third of the votes cast. Yet defeats, say sustainability experts, have rarely been so revolutionary.
Though far short of the two-thirds majority required to pass, the level of support was, for Mizuho and for much of corporate Japan watching from the sidelines, uncomfortably high. It was a warning, say some fund managers, that Japanese companies should expect to contend with more environmental, social and governance (ESG) proposals in coming years.
But while many companies are likely to adjust at least their outward behaviour and stated policies, the pivotal question around ESG investment in Japan will be whether those changes are fundamental or cosmetic.
The proposal faced by Mizuho would have obliged one of Japan’s “big three” banks — which, like its peers, finances coal power projects around...
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