As 2020 kicked off, Dan Gocher at the Australasian Center for Corporate Responsibility, a shareholder advocacy organization, was feeling “pretty optimistic” about its plans to force big Australian energy companies to tackle climate change.
BlackRock, the $6.8-trillion asset manager, and other large investors had proclaimed an urgent need to arrest global warming. With the renewed focus on climate change following devastating bush fires in Australia, the ACCR was hopeful several climate-related resolutions filed at oil and gas producers Santos and Woodside would gain strong shareholder support at their annual meetings in April.
Then came the COVID-19 pandemic. “Once the virus
