Praxis engages directly with companies and encourages them to pursue business practices that support positive social change.
We center our shareholder advocacy work around three main topics. We partner with organizations associated with ICCR and Ceres to form coalitions that give weight to the positions we urge companies toward.
| Issue | Company | Latest engagement |
|---|---|---|
| Climate change – utilities | AES | Sept. 2022 Dialogue with AES on climate change. Discussion focused on three priority areas: capital expenditure alignment with climate goals, climate policy, and Just Transition relating to the livelihoods and communities impacted by the low carbon transition. |
| Climate change – utilities |
American Electric Power |
Nov. 2022 Took part in an update and analysis on AEP’s Just Transition framework. Also reviewed AEP’s latest climate lobbying report. |
| Climate change – utilities | Duke Energy | Nov. 2022 Dialogue with Duke Energy on climate change. Covered various investor priorities and gave feedback on Duke’s recently announced ESG goals. |
| Climate change – utilities | Southern Company | Nov. 2022 Dialogue with Southern Company on climate change. Covered greenhouse gas emissions targets and climate-related disclosures, climate lobbying, energy efficiency, Just Transition, and renewable energy and capital expenditure plans. |
| Climate change – oil and gas |
ConocoPhillips |
Nov. 2022 Dialogue with ConocoPhillips on climate change including the company’s climate alignment with its capital expenditures, Scope 3 emissions targets, climate lobbying and trade associations, and board oversight of climate strategy. |
| Climate change - proxy voting |
ISS |
Oct. 2021 Joined investor letter to ISS, expressing concern that the proxy service provider’s baseline policy doesn’t adequately factor in the risks of climate change with its recommendations. |
| Climate change – oil sands | Numerous banks | Feb. 2022 Signed on to investor statement to financiers of Enbridge Line 3 and other oil sands projects. The statement serves as an urgent signal to banks that these projects demonstrate multiple legal, environmental, and human rights risks without a social license to operate from affected Indigenous Peoples. |
| Climate-related financial risk |
Department of Labor |
May 2022 Signed on to US SIF’s comment letter responding to the Department of Labor’s Request for Information on climate risks in retirement and pension plans. |
| Climate change | Oct. 2021 Joined the 2021 Global Investor Statement to Governments on the Climate Crisis, the strongest ever call by global investors for governments to raise their climate ambition and implement meaningful policies to support investment in solutions to the climate crisis. |
|
| Climate change | Oct. 2021 Joined the Hoosier Interfaith Power and Light (HIPL) Faith Climate Declaration. The declaration lists the impacts that climate change has on our communities and especially the most vulnerable people and commits the signatories to act towards a regenerative economy. |
|
| Climate change - just transition |
Dec. 2021 Signed onto a statement of investor expectations for job standards and community impacts to ensure a just transition to a decarbonized economy. |
|
| Climate change – banks | Morgan Stanley | Dec. 2022 Co-filed shareholder proposal at Morgan Stanley asking the company to issue a report disclosing a climate transition plan that describes how it intends to align its financing activities with its 2030 sectoral greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets. |
| Just transition | Oil and gas companies | Dec. 2022 Signed on to investor statement created by the World Benchmarking Alliance calling for the oil and gas sector to make significant steps for a Just Transition to a low-carbon future. This sector in particular needs to engage in robust transition planning. |
| Antibiotics | McDonald's |
Nov. 2022 Dialogue with McDonald’s on antibiotics. We discussed topics including defining “responsible use”, antibiotic reduction targets, and fulfilment of the company’s 2020 goals. |
| Deforestation | Lawmakers |
April 2022 Signed on to investor statement in support of the Fostering Overseas Rule of Law and Environmentally Sound Trade (FOREST) Act. The law would provide investors with important information on material financial and climate related risks to companies potentially linked to deforestation. |
| Oil drilling in artic refuge |
Insurance companies |
June 2022 Signed on to letter written by the Gwich'in Steering Committee, asking insurance companies not to insure companies drilling in the Arctic Refuge. |
| Vehicle emissions |
Lawmakers |
April 2022 Joined a letter to California lawmakers in support of an ambitious Advanced Clean Fleet regulation that accelerates electric vehicle deployment at the pace and scale that the climate and public health crises demand. |
| SEC Climate Rule |
SEC |
Sept. 2022 Joined investor letter to the SEC requesting prompt release of its Climate Disclosure Rule. The rule will standardize climate disclosures and help investors hold companies accountable on climate policy and performance. |
| Toxic chemicals | Lawmakers | Sept. 2022 Joined the American Sustainable Business Network effort to support the Protect America’s Children from Toxic Pesticides Act (PACTPA). Substantial scientific evidence indicates that the incidence rate of childhood cancers is increasing, in part due to the use of harmful pesticides. |
| Biodiversity | Agricultural companies | Sept. 2022 Signed onto letters to agriculture companies, organized by FAIRR, asking about waste and pollution as it relates to biodiversity. Praxis intends to engage some of these firms in dialogue. |
| Plastic pollution | Jan. 2022 Joined investor statement calling for a global treaty on plastic pollution. Unsustainable plastic production, consumption, and waste continues to accelerate at an alarming rate. This statement supports efforts to find a global, harmonized, binding solution to plastic pollution. |
|
| Issue | Company | Latest engagement |
| Paid sick leave |
Best Buy |
April 2022 Dialogue with Best Buy concerning its paid sick leave policies. Gained clarification on the companies PSL program and advocated for more generous PSL to full and part time employees. |
| Paid sick leave |
FedEx |
May 2022 Dialogue with FedEx to learn the company’s detailed PSL policies. Discussion also included the effect of worker classification on PSL, employee feedback and PSL usage statistics. |
| Paid sick leave |
Home Depot |
Feb. 2022 Withdrew shareholder resolution on paid sick leave in response to the company putting policies in place and making them more publicly accessible to stakeholders and investors seeking to assess key social issues in companies |
| Paid sick leave | ODP Corporation | May 2022 Dialogue with ODP included the details of the company’s PSL policies including benefits by worker classification, usage rates, potential penalties and the effect of PSL on employee retention. |
| Paid sick leave | Dozens of companies |
Dec. 2021 Joined an investor effort to engage dozens of service industry companies on disclosure of their paid sick leave benefits for U.S. workers and the advantages of providing paid sick leave to all employees. |
| Racial and gender equity | Amazon |
Dec. 2022 Co-filed shareholder proposal at Amazon on racial and gender pay gaps. The proposal seeks a report on median pay gaps at the company, including associated policy, reputational, competitive, and operational risks related to recruiting and retaining diverse talent. |
| Racial equity | Walmart |
Dec. 2021 Co-filed shareholder proposal on starting pay and racial equity. The proposal requests that the board of directors oversee a public report on whether and how Walmart's racial justice goals and commitments align with the starting pay for all classifications of Walmart associates. |
| Racial equity and human rights policy |
Target |
June 2022 Dialogue with the company on worker equity and benefits, diversity and inclusion, and human rights in the supply chain. Target is in the process of building an internal supply chain traceability team to provide better human rights due diligence. |
| Human rights policy |
General Mills |
April 2022 Post-dialogue letter sent to General Mills regarding the UN Guiding Principles, the company’s salient human rights issues, and its human rights policies. |
| Human trafficking |
Delta Airlines |
July 2022 Dialogue with Delta following-up on our June conversation. Discussed the company’s efforts to address human trafficking, its ongoing response to the COVID pandemic, as well as its efforts to support workers’ overall health and well-being. |
| Online child exploitation |
AT&T |
Jan. 2022 Dialogue with AT&T on its efforts to combat child sexual exploitation online. Conversation focused on its child rights risk assessment, governance and oversight, employee training, and partnerships and collaborations. |
| Online child exploitation | Verizon |
June 2022 Dialogue with Verizon on its efforts to combat child sexual exploitation online; conversation focused on its child rights risk assessment, governance and oversight, employee training, and partnerships and collaborations. |
| Empowering communities |
Bank of America |
Feb. 2022 Dialogue with Bank of America on empowering communities, clients, and employees. The discussion also covered an update on BAC’s climate strategy and its digital assets (including cryptocurrency) policies. |
| COVID-19 – Vaccine pricing and accessibility | Johnson & Johnson | Nov. 2021 Co-filed shareholder proposal that asks for a report on how Johnson & Johnson’s receipt of government financial support for the development and manufacture of vaccines and therapeutics for COVID-19 is being taken into account when engaging in conduct that affects access to these products, such as setting prices. |
| Conflict minerals |
Semiconductor industry |
Nov. 2021 Signed on to investor letter on conflict minerals, encouraging individual companies within different parts of the semiconductor supply chain to address responsible sourcing of minerals. |
| Diversity, equity and inclusion |
Target |
Aug. 2022 Dialogue with Target on diversity, equity and inclusion, including performance and future goals. We also discussed Target’s 2022 corporate sustainability report and the metrics the company uses to produce its statistics. |
| Indigenous rights | ConocoPhillips |
Sept. 2022 Dialogue with ConocoPhillips on indigenous rights. Focus areas included the Indigenous Peoples Sustainability Report, regional updates from Canada, Australia, and Alaska, and a discussion over metrics meant to measure the company’s social performance in these areas. |
| Indigenous rights |
Insurance companies |
Aug. 2022 Joined letter from the Gwich'in Steering Committee to leading insurance companies asking them not to insure drilling efforts in the Artic Refuge to respect the rights of Alaska Indigenous communities, and avoid harming wildlife and exacerbating climate change. |
| Civil rights audit |
McDonald’s |
Sept. 2022 Joined letter by SOC Investment Group supporting a third-party civil rights audit McDonald’s has agreed to while also requesting engagement on the audit framework. |
| Racial and economic justice |
Office of the Comptroller of Currency |
Aug. 2022 Signed onto comment letter to the OCC led by Our Financial Security on Climate Justice in the new rules to govern the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). This is an opportunity to advocate for policy that infuses financial regulation with climate concerns and racial/economic justice. |
| Addressing inequality – finance |
March 2022 Joined in launching the Task Force on Inequality-related Financial Disclosures which aims to reduce inequality created by the private sector by improving transparency on corporate and investor contributions to inequality, while showing how inequality can present risks to companies and investors. |
|
| Issue | Company | Latest engagement |
| Operations in conflict-affected areas |
JPMorgan Chase |
Sept. 2022 Joined investor letter to JPMorgan Chase in joint effort to address the company's human rights risks in conflict-affected and high-risk areas, including Russia, Kazakhstan, Mozambique, Myanmar, and Venezuela. Dialogue with the company is sought. |
| ESG disclosure and regulation |
Securities and Exchange Commission |
Aug. 2022 Submitted comments to the SEC in response to their proposed guidance around their “Names” and “Disclosure” rules pertaining to investment managers that integrate ESG into their investment process. |
| Shareholder proposals |
Securities and Exchange Commission |
Sept. 2022 Submitted comments to the SEC supporting their proposed changes to rule 14a-8. This rule covers the right of shareholders to file proposals with companies, and the changes would narrow the grounds on which companies could exclude shareholder proposals, leading to increased communication between shareholders and the company. |
| War in Ukraine |
May 2022 Joined investor statement on the crisis in Ukraine. The statement strongly condemns the Russian military invasion and ongoing war of aggression against Ukraine. It also states unequivocal support for the Ukrainian people, their protections under international humanitarian law, and their recognized rights to life, freedom, democracy, and territorial integrity. |
|
| Tax transparency | Feb. 2022 Signed investor letter to the SEC in support of a shareholder proposal at Amazon asking for tax reporting using the GRI tax standard, which would lead to better corporate tax transparency but which the company has challenged. |
|
| Sudan | Nov. 2021 Joined investor statement on the coup in Sudan to send the message that the responsible investment and business communities seek to invest and operate in countries where the rule of law, accountable governance and civic freedoms are respected. | |
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