Organization: BB&T Corporation

Year: 2015

Description:

RESOLVED

Shareholders request that BB&T, Inc. issue a sustainability report describing the company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets and goals. The report should be available by year end 2015, prepared at reasonable cost, omitting proprietary information.

SUPPORTING STATEMENT

Currently, BB&T does not substantively report to its shareowners on the company’s sustainability efforts. Sustainability reporting allows a company to describe its corporate responsibility and sustainability programs, progress and challenges. We believe this makes a company more resilient in a complex business environment characterized by finite natural resources, changing legislation, and heightened public expectations for corporate accountability. Reporting also helps companies better integrate and gain strategic value from existing sustainability efforts, identify gaps and opportunities, and attract and retain employees, customers and clients. 

Support for and the practice of sustainability reporting continues to gain momentum:

•   In 2013, KPMG found that of 4,100 global companies 71% had ESG reports. 

•   The United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment has more than 1,200 signatories with over $45 trillion of assets under management. These members seek ESG information from companies to be able to analyze fully the risks and opportunities associated with existing and potential investments. 

•   CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project), representing 767 institutional investors globally with $92 trillion in assets, calls for company disclosure of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change management programs. Investors accessed CDP data through Bloomberg terminals more than 7.5 million times last year. Over two-thirds of the S&P 500 now report to CDP. 

Companies report and manage these issues because it makes business sense. Presently, 60 percent of Fortune 100 companies have GHG reduction commitments, renewable energy commitments, or both. A report published by WWF, Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), and McKinsey & Company, The 3% Solution: Driving Profits Through Carbon Reduction, found that companies with GHG targets achieved an average of 9% better return on investment than companies without targets. Additionally, 79% of companies in the S&P 500 that report to CDP earn a higher return on their carbon reduction investments than on their overall corporate capital investments. Fifty-three Fortune 100 companies reporting on climate and energy targets to CDP report saving $1.1 billion annually through their emission reduction and renewable energy initiatives. 

Over 400 financial services companies, 60 U.S.-based, currently respond to the CDP climate survey. This large sample of responders includes companies big and small, including Bank of America, Comerica, Fifth Third Bancorp, and PNC, among many others. 

By not reporting, we are concerned that BB&T may be missing opportunities that other banks are actively capturing. 

We recommend that BB&T develop a report that includes a company-wide review of policies, practices, metrics, and goals related to ESG performance. The GRI Guidelines, the most widely used sustainability reporting framework, provide a helpful guide to focusing reporting. The CDP climate questionnaire seems to be an exceedingly useful tool for many companies as well.