Investor Insight ACCR Annual Review FY23/24

Spanning our AGM activities, company engagements and research, and featuring testimonials from key collaborators, ACCR's Annual Review for FY23/24 shows how we use shareholder rights to protect long-term value and deliver real-world emissions reductions.

9th October 2024

From our Executive Director

Even though I see it every day, I’m constantly impressed by the teamwork, dedication and smarts of the ACCR team. I have one of the best jobs in the world, working alongside people who show up every day ready to apply their professional skills and creativity to our shared mission – to confront the climate crisis using the tools of shareholder strategy. My job has evolved enormously over the last few years, and because our team is now nearing 40 people and truly multidisciplinary,* these days I’m grateful to be much more of a conductor than a soloist.

I’ve been fortunate, with ACCR board and staff support, to spend most of this year based in London, working with colleagues and partners to make sure we are well-positioned to anticipate and navigate the future, and optimise our impact. As we make decisions about where to put resources, we’re increasingly looking at the potential for systemic impact in our strategies. Writing this introduction is always a welcome chance to reflect not only on our achievements but also on some bigger themes. Our supporters are of course well aware of the grim state of climate change, and the vanishingly small window of opportunity we (and other investors) have to avoid preventable emissions and the possible interplay of climate tipping points sending our planet into an irreversibly changed state. We continue to update our understanding of climate science and refine our strategies and communications accordingly.

The last 12 months have been an interesting time for shareholder strategy globally. The ‘ESG backlash’, an effort funded with fossil fuel money to undermine climate action by investors, has sought to discredit shareholder strategy. This has been accompanied by mounting political and legal pressure on climate-related investor collaborations in the USA. While this environment has meant that some major investors have lost their appetite to escalate, we see the backlash as evidence of the effectiveness of shareholder strategy. Fossil fuel interests and sections of the political class have identified it as a sufficiently serious threat to warrant spending time and resources attacking it, and as such, a further evolution of the tools we use and how we use them is necessary.

We have plenty in store over the next 12 months - too much to list here. However, I’ll draw your attention to one long-term piece of work that we expect will soon have its moment in the spotlight. Long-term supporters will recall that, in 2021, ACCR commenced landmark proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia alleging that Santos Ltd breached the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and the Australian Consumer Law by engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct relating to its “clean energy” claims and its “credible and clear” plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2040. This was the first court case in the world to challenge the veracity of a company’s net zero emissions target. Well, our case will finally go to hearing in the Federal Court starting on 28 October this year. We’ll keep supporters in the loop as things progress.

Finally, we’re in a financially solid position, but with more financial support, we can do more and have more impact in the world. Donations into our research fund, which resources our work developing the analytical base that is the engine room of our stewardship initiatives and company engagements, are tax-deductible for Australian donors.

As always, and from the whole team, thanks for your support for and keen interest in our expertise.

Brynn O'Brien
September 2024

* Many of the ACCR team have spent years working in the fields we wish to influence: investment banking, corporate communications, law firms, asset management and fossil fuels. Know that when your lightbulb moment on the climate crisis comes, it’s never too late to switch it up.

Download our Annual Review FY23/24.