Macquarie Group (ASX:MQG) faces a climate-related shareholder resolution ahead of its annual general meeting (AGM) on July 23, Jarden said in a Thursday note.
The climate-related resolution by environmental group Market Forces is effectively asking the company to confirm whether it remains committed to aligning its financing with the global goal of net zero by 2050 and disclose how it assesses its fossil fuel financing against that commitment, Jarden said.
Jarden said it was important to note that the numbers for exposure to fossil fuel financing for different lenders are not like-for-like because each bank defines exposure differently. Macquarie reports lending and equity investments together on an exposure-at-default basis, so its oil and gas lending cannot be isolated. However, Jarden said Market Forces' point that Macquarie's exposure is rising while peers' fall "appears to hold true," with policy reinforcing this.
Macquarie still has a net zero ambition but a narrower one, Jarden concluded, adding that it seems to lag domestic and European peers on policy, with no mandated client transition plans and no exclusion on financing new oil and gas fields.