CA100+ planning limited reshuffle of list of focus companies

Climate Action 100+ is planning a limited reshuffle of its focus list as the initiative enters its second phase in June.

Responsible Investor understands that around 10 companies will be removed and a similar number added to the 166-strong list when CA100+ launches Phase 2.

A spokesperson for the group declined to provide names, but US energy infrastructure company Kinder Morgan has already told investors that it will be taken off the list.

In a letter to shareholders challenging a recommendation by proxy adviser ISS to vote against the chair of the firm’s environmental, health and safety committee, executive chairman Richard Kinder said he had been informed by CA100+ that it would remove Kinder Morgan from its focus list.

The CA100+ spokesperson confirmed that there would be “a very slight revision” to the list when Phase 2 launches.

“This will impact minimal companies and will result in a similar number to the current list, so this should not be viewed as a significant overhaul,” the spokesperson said. “Until then, all focus companies remain the same. Full details about the changes, including the process behind the removals and additions, will be communicated at the launch of Phase 2.”

Kinder Morgan is one of the companies on the initiative’s “plus list”. This comprises firms thst are considered important to the transition but are not captured by the main list of systemically important emitters.

The company performs poorly on assessments against CA100+’s net-zero benchmark.

While it meets all the criteria for TCFD reporting, it had not set any emissions reduction targets or a decarbonisation strategy at the last assessment in October 2022. It meets one criteria each in the climate policy engagement and climate governance sections, and received a score of 44 out of 100 from InfluenceMap’s assessment of climate policy engagement alignment.

The CA100+ spokesperson emphasised that removal from the list “is not a graduation and should not be viewed as endorsement or recognition of progress”. This has been communicated to the companies as well, they added.

Nicole Lee, director of ESG research at Miller/Howard, which co-leads engagement with Kinder Morgan alongside EOS at Federated Hermes, told RI that the manager had engaged with the firm years before the launch of CA100+ and that it would continue “even as CA100+’s universe of targeted companies shifts”.

“We expect the financial materiality of climate-related issues to generally increase as time passes, not decrease, and so will continue to engage Kinder Morgan and other companies within our portfolios as part of our commitment to our clients,” she added.

EOS declined to comment.

CA100+ is expected to announce an overhaul of its practices and processes in June at the official launch of its second phase. The group, set up in 2017, reached the end of its initial push last year and is planning a revamp for the next phase, expected to last until 2030.

The widely used net-zero benchmark has already received an overhaul, with new metrics and some features moving out of their beta phase, while a consultation towards the end of last year set out a series of proposals including regional and thematic working groups and strengthening some reporting requirements.