Boral has been targeted by a powerful group of investment funds demanding the nation’s largest construction and building materials supplier aggressivelyThe cement giant faces a barrage of activist complaints after in August cutting its emissions reduction target for 2025 from 18 per cent to 12-14 per cent from 2019 figures, after struggling to meet its original goals.
“The investor group are seeking assurance that the board will be ensuring management is held to account on seizing this opportunity, at a critical juncture for the company to progress its transition,” the letter, written by Australian Ethical CEO John McMurdo on behalf of the funds, said.They demanded Boral retain its current 2030 target and include scope three emissions – meaning those produced up and down its value change, as well as those it produces itself, as it currently accounts for.
“We are optimistic at this stage that we will be able to work with the company … but the next step for us is that without a commitment, we will be voting against the chairman,” Australian Ethical senior ethics analyst Persephone Fraser warned.