Proxy Year 2025 Sees Drop in ESG Resolutions; Governance Strong
The close of June 2025 marks a significant shift in the landscape of shareholder resolutions focused on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. This year, the number of ESG shareholder resolutions has decreased by approximately one-third compared to previous years. While overall support for these resolutions has stabilized at just above 20%, a noteworthy disparity exists between support for governance resolutions and those addressing environmental and social themes.
Declining Volume but Stable Support for ESG Resolutions
Data indicates that the total number of ESG shareholder resolutions voted on at U.S. companies has fallen to 463 in the 2025 proxy year, a nearly 30% decrease from previous years. This decline follows three consecutive years of growth in proposal volume. The drop can be largely attributed to guidance changes implemented by the Securities and Exchange Commission in February 2025, which allowed companies to exclude a greater number of shareholder proposals from proxy ballots.
Despite the reduction in the number of resolutions, average support levels appear stable at 23% for 2025, consistent with the previous two years. This figure remains steady whether analyzing the entire voting population or excluding proposals from “anti-ESG” filers, which tend to receive strong opposition from investors. When these anti-ESG resolutions are excluded, the average support increases to 26%. The data suggests that shareholders have established a consistent level of backing for sustainability and governance resolutions, moving away from the significant declines witnessed in prior years.
Strong Governance Resolutions Maintain Support
While the overall support for ESG resolutions has stabilized, a deeper analysis reveals strong backing for governance resolutions compared to a decline in support for environmental and social proposals. In 2025, average shareholder support for governance-focused resolutions reached 33%, a slight decrease from 34% in the previous year. The relative scarcity of anti-ESG resolutions addressing governance topics means that excluding these proposals has minimal impact on the average support.
In contrast, the situation is starkly different for environmental and social resolutions. The 2025 proxy year saw a significant decline in the number of these E&S resolutions, with a staggering 42% drop, leaving only 232 proposals on the table. Average support for E&S resolutions fell from 16% in 2024 to just 13% in 2025. When filtering out resolutions from anti-ESG proponents, the average support for E&S proposals stood at 16%, down from 20% last year. This trend indicates a diminishing appetite among major asset managers for environmental and social proposals.
The decline in significant E&S resolutions further underscores shifting investor sentiment. Only 29 significant E&S resolutions achieved the support of at least 30% of a company’s independent shareholders in 2025, a sharp decrease from 107 in the previous year. This reduction highlights a growing divergence in priorities among investors, particularly the larger asset management firms.
With these developments, the importance of strategic manager selection and proxy voting choices for sustainability-focused investors is increasingly evident. As asset managers retreat from backing E&S proposals, it becomes vital for investors to align their voting decisions with their environmental and social priorities.
As the year progresses, the voting records of asset managers will provide further insights into these trends, allowing for a comprehensive analysis of the evolving landscape of shareholder resolutions in 2025 and beyond.
