Japan's J-Power says to oppose climate resolution by foreign shareholders
24/05/2023 12:21
TOKYO, May 24 (Reuters) - Japan's Electric Power
Development Co Ltd (J-Power) 9513.T said on Wednesday that it
has decided to oppose a resolution on climate targets by a group
of foreign shareholders as the energy company has already
implemented the proposed action.
Two major European asset managers have jointly filed a
shareholder resolution at J-Power, Japan's largest operator of
coal-fired power stations, for the second consecutive year.
Amundi AMUN.PA and HSBC Asset Management filed the
resolution with the Australasian Centre for Corporate
Responsibility (ACCR), the non-profit climate group, calling on
J-Power to set and disclose credible short and medium-term
emission reduction targets, aligned with the goals of the Paris
Agreement.
"We have already formulated and announced specific plans,
including short- and medium-term targets, to achieve carbon
neutrality by 2050," J-Power said in a statement.
Earlier this month, J-Power raised its 2030 emission
reduction target by 1.3 million tonnes from 2013 levels, but its
president, Toshifumi Watanabe, said at the time that the
revision was not in response to the resolution.
Shareholder activism on climate change has been gaining
momentum in Japan over the past couple of years and pressure
from such proposals has prompted some policy changes at the
targeted companies.
The resolution also comes as the Group of Seven rich
nations, or G7, last month agreed to speed up renewable energy
development, called for a quicker phase-out of fossil fuels and
achieving "a fully or predominantly decarbonised" power sector
by 2035.
(Reporting by Yuka Obayashi; Editing by Emelia
Sithole-Matarise)
((Yuka.Obayashi@thomsonreuters.com; +813-4520-1265;))