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Sasol, South Africa’s second-largest greenhouse gas producer, rejected a demand by activist shareholders that it present resolutions at its annual general meetings to align its climate-related goals with the Paris Agreement.
The three resolutions from Just Share NPC and the Raith Foundation, which would also make executive pay elements contingent on meeting targets, will be considered by their shareholders at the November 20 meeting, the company said in a letter to activists sent to Bloomberg for Just Share.
Sasol, whose Secunda coal-fired fuel plant is the world’s largest single-site greenhouse gas emitter, said the resolutions would affect the managing authority and, in any event, its goal of reducing emissions by 10%. by 2030 it is online. with the Paris Agreement. The international pact aims to keep the rise in global temperatures below 2 degrees Celsius this century.
“Shareholders cannot usurp the authority of the directors or interfere in the management of a company,” Sasol said in the letter dated October 30. “In our opinion, our objective and the associated roadmap are aligned with the principles of the Paris Agreement, which provide that it is appropriate for the specific conditions of each of the countries as parties to the agreement.”
The company declined to comment further.
Sasol and other South African companies, including the country’s largest banks, are under increasing pressure to take more steps to reduce global warming by reducing emissions and not financing facilities that exploit or use fossil fuels.
“Sasol appears to refuse to allow shareholders to have a voice on this crucial issue so that management can maintain control over the pace and scale of change,” said Tracey Davies, director of Cape Town-based Just Share. “At present, this rate and this scale are too slow and too small.”
She questioned Sasol’s claim that his goal is aligned with the Paris Agreement, saying that South Africa’s own climate goals are insufficient.
The two activist organizations have written to some of Sasol’s largest shareholders in an attempt to gain their support. The letter, sent to Bloomberg, was addressed to Fidelity International Ltd., AllianceBernstein Holding LP, Ninety One Plc and Coronation Fund Managers Ltd.
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