Sustainability Proposals in 2025
SquareWell Partners' study shows decreasing levels of support for such proposals 11 March 2026
Paul Verney of Responsible Investor referenced SquareWell’s latest Insight in an article titled “ISS Slashed Support for Sustainability-related Shareholder Proposals in 2025.” The article highlights findings from SquareWell Partners’ recent analysis of proxy adviser voting behaviour during the 2025 US AGM season.
According to SquareWell’s research, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) supported less than a tenth of sustainability-related shareholder proposals at S&P 500 companies during the first half of 2025. Under its benchmark policy, ISS backed just 7 percent of such proposals and did not support any environmental resolutions during that period. This represents a sharp decline compared with 2024, when ISS supported around half of all environmental-focused shareholder proposals. The research also noted that Glass Lewis reduced its support for sustainability-focused proposals, although the decline was less pronounced. During the same period, the proxy adviser supported 21 percent of these proposals, representing a decrease of five percentage points compared with the previous year.
SquareWell’s data further shows that the number of sustainability-related shareholder proposals submitted to S&P 500 companies fell by 39 percent in 2025 compared with 2024. This trend reflects the increasingly challenging environment for shareholder proposal filers in the United States, amid heightened political and regulatory scrutiny of the shareholder proposal process and the role of proxy advisers.
The research also highlights a widening divide between the voting behaviour of major US and European asset managers. Among the ten largest global asset managers, European-based firms supported an average of 48 percent of sustainability-related proposals, while their US counterparts supported just 2 percent.
In a separate analysis cited in the article, SquareWell examined voting outcomes on management-sponsored “say on climate” proposals. The firm found that ISS and Glass Lewis disagreed in their recommendations roughly 30 percent of the time. As SquareWell noted, “ISS emphasises the rigour of the climate plan, while Glass Lewis gives added weight to governance processes of the vote.”
You can read the full article on Responsible Investor here.
