An insurer's use of its voting rights and dialogue as an institutional investor to influence the climate strategy of the companies it holds shares in.
Climate shareholder engagement refers to an insurer's use of its voting rights and dialogue, as an institutional investor holding stakes in numerous companies, to shift their climate strategy from within rather than through capital withdrawal alone. This approach differs from pure divestment: instead of selling shares in a company deemed insufficiently committed, the investor uses its weight within collective initiatives, such as Climate Action 100+, which coordinates dialogue between several hundred institutional investors and the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters, or votes at annual meetings on climate resolutions put forward by shareholders, a practice known as "say on climate." For an insurer, this strategy reflects portfolio logic: it often holds stakes in the same carbon-intensive sectors it otherwise excludes from underwriting, and shareholder engagement lets it act on that residual exposure without giving up the diversification these holdings provide. The main criticism leveled at this approach concerns measurability: unlike an underwriting exclusion, whose effect is immediate and verifiable, the real impact of shareholder dialogue on a company's climate trajectory remains difficult to isolate from other factors.
Climate Action 100+ coordinates dialogue between several hundred institutional investors, including major European insurers, and more than a hundred of the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters, seeking verifiable reduction commitments rather than a simple withdrawal of capital.
say on climate, Climate Action 100+, vote climatique actionnaire