Evidently the pressure from a trust fund to force Home Depot to adopt more stringent energy efficiency measures and better reporting of them was not sufficient enough to sway shareholders.
Home Depot shareholders voted down the resolution, along with four other shareholder resolutions, May 28, reports Reuters.
The $20 billion Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds had filed a shareholder resolution asking Home Depot to assess its companywide energy use in its buildings, transportation, and supply chain; set energy use reduction targets; and report findings and progress to shareholders.
The resolution also was supported by advisory firm RiskMetrics Group (RMG) and other investors in the $7 trillion Investor Network on Climate Risk.
The investor groups pointed out that they felt Lowes and Wal-Mart had much superior energy efficiency measures and reporting transparency.
The hardware retailer had on several occasions previously agreed to improve reporting of its energy efficiency measures but had not done so to the satisfaction of activist shareholders.
A representative of the Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds reportedly is hopeful that Home Depot will continue a dialogue on the subject.