Tuesday, 31 May 2022
Aware Super welcomes the announcement that AGL Energy has withdrawn its demerger proposal.
We particularly note the stated intention of the AGL Board to decarbonise AGL Energy’s business ‘at the fastest rate possible’, and expect to see a robust and credible Paris-aligned climate transition plan.
We have been engaging with AGL over the long term, and have been advocating for the company to provide investors with a strategy and targets that are aligned to limiting warming to 1.5 degrees.
The announcement provides more time for AGL to further consider the expectations of all shareholders in both creating long-term value, and operating consistent with the target of limiting global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees.
Aware Super does not believe these objectives to be mutually exclusive, and on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers, first responders and workers in every community across Australia who make up our membership, we encourage AGL’s leadership to pursue these outcomes with renewed vigour.
We believe it will be necessary for the investment community (whether directly or through collaborative initiatives such as CA100+, of which Aware Super is a member) to engage with AGL to ensure an orderly transition to net zero by 2050 considering the impact on employees and the community.