Political action through environmental shareholder resolution filing: applicability to Canadian Oil Sands?

Research on the efficacy of social and environmental shareholder resolutions often fails to consider their strategic value in the context of policy outreach. Research on investor-driven governance networks and shareholder activism as a social movement illuminates strategies for organized shareholder coalitions to use a coordinated resolution filing campaign to shape the rules and norms under which business operates. These strategies are examined through qualitative case study analysis of two environmental shareholder campaigns: one organized by Ceres (Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies) addressing climate change and the other organized by Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN) addressing hydraulic fracturing. These case studies show that resolution filing with broad investor appeal and linked to a policy agenda can achieve change beyond targeted companies. Case study insights may contribute to the formation of a Canadian shareholder coalition organized around improved corporate disclosure of Oil Sands risks and improved government monitoring of environmental impacts. Investor groups, mostly Canadian, have framed the environmental and social issues in terms that resonate with the investment community and policy makers. Investor activists in Canada, the US and Europe have filed a number of shareholder resolutions at Oil Sands companies. This marks progress towards investor coalition formation with coordinated shareholder action and a multi-jurisdictional reach.