Shareholders’ meetings 2022: the return of environmental activism?


The article of Geoffroy Goubin, partner, and Marie-Alix Danton published in Capital Finance on April 25.

What to note :

– While it can create distrust within companies, environmental shareholder activism nevertheless generates non-negligible positive effects.

– Its effects on companies’ environmental policies first of all allow them to limit the risks of (i) non-compliance with the law on duty of care with regard to environmental risks and (ii) legal proceedings related to climate change, which are increasingly frequent in France and abroad.

– However, environmental shareholder activism is not immune to the sometimes cosmetic reactions of issuers (eco-whitening or “greenwashing”), nor to the harmful consequences of activism sometimes in search of short-term profits, to the detriment of the company’s interests or the proper functioning of the market.

* This article was written prior to TotalEnergies’ announcements on April 21 and 28, 2022.

Click here to read the full article in French.