ACCR Annual Review 2025/26

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Foreword

The last year has reinforced a simple but confronting physical reality: There is no stable “new normal” until greenhouse gas emissions get to net zero. Over the Northern Hemisphere summer, much of Europe – including several of the world’s largest financial centres – experienced heatwaves that broke temperature records and caused widespread mortality, illness and disruption. Climate risk is no longer something markets are preparing for, it is increasingly shaping the conditions they operate within.

In this changed context, organisations can’t rely on the assumptions and strategies of the past. This is true of companies – which must rethink how their investment strategies respond to changing market, geopolitical and technological realities – and it is equally true of ACCR. This year, we continued reshaping our strategy and structure around the areas where ACCR can have the greatest impact.

While progress remains slower than climate science demands, our work continues to gain traction. Conversations that once centred on disclosure are increasingly focused on capital allocation, governance and systemic risk. Across all our geographies and sectors, a growing number of investors are using our insights and strategic methods to support decision-making.

This shift is reflected in the outcomes we achieved this year. Investor-led engagement, informed by ACCR’s work, helped drive scrutiny of companies like Woodside, Shell, AGL, BHP, Nippon Steel and J-POWER. At BP, shareholders representing more than a quarter of votes cast supported our co-filed resolution on capital discipline, requiring the company to consult with shareholders and formally respond to the vote under the UK Corporate Governance Code.

This work is not straightforward, and impact will be measured over years rather than months. But in the past year, our influence has been present in crucial arenas where market beliefs are formed and tested: in boardrooms, AGMs and courtrooms; across policy and regulatory discussions; in mainstream investment and proxy voting analysis; on social media and podcasts; and in traditional media.

As ever, we are grateful to the ACCR team for their expertise and ongoing commitment to challenge themselves as our work evolves. We are equally grateful for our supporters, partners and funders, whose confidence enables us to pursue independent work that is difficult, technical and often ahead of market consensus. The coming years are unlikely to become simpler, but by sharpening and evolving our strategies, we believe ACCR can continue to help institutional investors better distinguish between value creation and value destruction in a rapidly changing climate.

With thanks,

Brynn O'Brien & Nick Kelly,
Co-Chief Executive Officers

Download our Annual Review FY25/26.