Responsible Investment News and Views - Q3 2025

In this quarter's Responsible Investment News and Views, we look at how capital markets are evolving to better price climate-related risk.

Climate change is not a distant concern. Extreme weather events are damaging property and disrupting supply chains, yet few businesses are communicating how they intend to mitigate and adapt, or the costs of doing so. This lack of information, coupled with structural limitations, prevents markets from fully pricing the potential impact of climate change. Investors can take steps to better understand climate risks, allocate to climate-aware strategies, and use their influence as stewards of capital to support well-functioning markets and value creation.

In our significant votes section, we examine how anti-ESG sentiment in the US has caused a significant drop in climate-related proposals at AGMs over the 2025 proxy season.

And, in our ESG Snippets, we're exploring: 

• The impact of Staff Legal Bulletin 14M (SLB 14M) on companies' ability to exclude shareholder proposals. 
• The announcement of the new draft, ‘Joint Guidelines on ESG stress testing', from the European Supervisory Authorities (Europe’s three primary financial regulatory agencies). This details how banking and insurance sector authorities in the EU should integrate ESG risks into their supervisory stress tests.
• The release of the The Principles for Responsible Investment's (PRI) inaugural report for its human-rights-focused engagement initiative, 'Advance'. 

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If you have any questions, or would like to discuss any of these topics further, please get in touch.

Important Information 
This communication has been compiled by Hymans Robertson LLP, and is based upon their understanding of events as at 15 July 2025 and therefore may be subject to change. This publication is designed to be a general summary of topical investment issues and is not specific to the circumstances of any particular employer or pension scheme. The information contained herein is not to be construed as advice and should not be considered a substitute for specific advice in relation to individual circumstances. Where the subject of this note refers to legal matters please note that Hymans Robertson LLP is not qualified to give legal advice therefore we recommend that you seek legal advice. Hymans Robertson LLP accepts no liability for errors or omissions. Your Hymans Robertson LLP consultant will be pleased to discuss any issue in greater detail.