Citi Limits: Citigroup Could Lose Big If Net Zero Assumptions Fall Flat

Washington, D.C. — At today’s annual Citigroup Inc. shareholder meeting, a representative of the National Center for Public Policy Research’s Free Enterprise Project (FEP) will present a proposal calling on Citi to take a closer look at research that calls into question the assumptions of the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Net Zero [Emissions] 2050 Roadmap (NZE), and assess how being wrong about these assumptions could negatively impact the company’s bottom line.

“Companies should stop undermining our growth and security – as well as the innovation that is tied to them – in pursuit of some utopian ‘net zero’ quest that is utterly meaningless so long as China and other large nations refuse to similarly hobble themselves,” FEP Executive Director Stefan Padfield will tell shareholders today as he presents Proposal #7. He will also quote Dr. Bjorn Lomborg, who recently wrote that ‘[s]hareholders need to ask hard questions about what these policies really do for the planet, and what they add to the bottom line.’”

Stefan Padfield

In the proposal’s supporting statement, FEP writes:

Citigroup Inc. (“the Company”) has adopted net-zero commitments that include “our financed emissions target by 2050 and our operational footprint emissions target by 2030,” including “a goal of $1 trillion in sustainable finance.” In fact, the Company apparently intends to push clients to decarbonize, including issuing thinly-veiled threats to debank clients who don’t sufficiently embrace the Company’s climate agenda.

These investment decisions presume the normative IEA NZE is possible and is based on true assumptions, but it is unclear what, if any, analysis the Company has done to protect company assets and investments should NZE prove unsound.

A 2023 study by the Energy Policy Research Foundation (EPRF) found that net zero advocates have misconstrued the IEA’s position on new oil and gas investment, and that the IEA has made questionable assumptions and milestones for NZE about government policies, energy and carbon prices, behavioral changes, economic growth and technology maturity.

In addition to requesting that shareholders vote YES on Proposal 7, FEP has published an entire voting scorecard for Citigroup shareholders as part of its Proxy Navigator voting guide that includes these recommendations:

Proposal 1: Election of Directors: VOTE AGAINST THE ENTIRE BOARD.
Proposal 2: Ratification of Selection of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm: ABSTAIN.
Proposal 3: Advisory Vote to Approve Our 2024 Executive Compensation: ABSTAIN.
Proposal 4: Approval of Additional Shares for the Citigroup 2019 Stock Incentive Plan: ABSTAIN.
Proposal 5: Shareholder Vote regarding Excessive Golden Parachutes: ABSTAIN.
Proposal 6: Stockholder proposal requesting a report on the effectiveness of Citi’s policies and practices in respecting Indigenous Peoples’ rights in Citi’s existing and proposed financing: AGAINST.
Proposal 7: National Center’s proposal requesting a report on financial statement assumptions and climate change: FOR.
Proposal 8: Stockholder proposal requesting a report disclosing the Board’s oversight regarding material risks associated with animal welfare: AGAINST.