PanamaTimes

Tuesday, Jul 15, 2025

Toyota heads into AGM under pressure from pension funds over climate

Toyota heads into AGM under pressure from pension funds over climate

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) heads into its annual general meeting on Wednesday under fire from New York City and Danish pension funds over its commitment to battery vehicles and lobbying on climate policy.

Once a darling of environmentalists for the hybrid Prius model it popularised more than two decades ago, the Japanese automaker has more recently drawn criticism from green investors who say it has been slow to embrace battery vehicles.

They also say its lobbying activities work to undermine the transition to battery electric vehicles. Energy and climate think-tank InfluenceMap has rated it the worst among major automakers for its lobbying record on climate policy, which includes public statements and interaction with governments.

"We are extremely concerned that Toyota's lobbying activities are misaligned with its climate goals and its electric vehicle strategy," New York City Comptroller Brad Lander said in a statement ahead of the shareholder meeting.

Lander oversees a pension system with $253 billion in assets under management, including around $140 million worth of Toyota shares.

"Toyota's approach puts it at a competitive disadvantage compared to its peers, which have shown a far greater commitment to transitioning to battery electric vehicles," he said.

Toyota last year committed 8 trillion yen ($60 billion) to electrify its cars by 2030, with half of that slated to develop battery electric vehicles. Still, it expects annual sales of such cars to reach only 3.5 million vehicles by the end of the decade, or around a third of current sales.

It says hybrids make sense in markets where infrastructure isn't ready to support a faster move to battery vehicles.

In a statement, Toyota said national governments and policies play a crucial role in realising carbon neutrality by 2050 and promoting electrified vehicles (EVs) globally, and that it was committed to ensuring national policies, societal needs, technological advances, and customer needs all pointed in the same direction to the greatest extent possible.

LEFT BEHIND


"Toyota says that there's going to be a need for a range of technologies into the future and their lobbying is directly trying to create a world where this is the case," said Ben Youriev of InfluenceMap, the think tank.

Toyota last year declined to join a pledge signed by six major carmakers, including General Motors Co (GM.N) and Ford Motor Co (F.N), to phase out fossil fuel cars by 2040, saying not all parts of the world would be ready to transition by then.

It drew scrutiny in 2019 when it sided with then U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to bar California from setting its own fuel efficiency rules. It later dropped that support.

Some 100,000 people have signed an online petition against Toyota's lobbying.

Danish pension fund AkademikerPension has submitted questions for the shareholder meeting asking Toyota to refrain from public statements and government lobbying that would undermine the shift toward full electrification.

"What we fear is that Toyota is getting left behind with their current EV targets that are not as ambitious as most of their competitors and that their lobbying activities are also a growing source of risk," Anders Schelde, the fund's chief investment officer, told Reuters.

AkademikerPension has $19.3 billion in assets under management and has been selling down its stake in Toyota. It holds 17 million Danish crowns ($2.4 million) worth of shares, down around 85% from a year earlier.

($1 = 134.5100 yen)

($1 = 7.1246 Danish crowns)

Newsletter

Related Articles

PanamaTimes
0:00
0:00
Close
Biden’s Doctor Pleads the Fifth to Avoid Self-Incrimination on President’s Medical Fitness
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
OpenAI Secures Multimillion-Dollar AI Contracts with Pentagon, India, and Grab
Brazilian Congress Rejects Lula's Proposed Tax Increase on Financial Transactions
Landslide in Bello, Colombia, Results in Multiple Casualties
Papa Johns pizza surge near the Pentagon tipped off social media before Trump's decisive Iran strike
Juncker Criticizes EU Inaction on Trump Tariffs
Minnesota Lawmaker Melissa Hortman and Husband Killed in Targeted Attack; Senator John Hoffman and Wife Injured
Wreck of $17 Billion San José Galleon Identified Off Colombia After 300 Years
Sole Survivor of Air India Crash Recounts Escape
Coinbase CEO Warns Bitcoin Could Supplant US Dollar Amid Mounting National Debt
UK and EU Reach Agreement on Gibraltar's Schengen Integration
Israeli Finance Minister Imposes Banking Penalties on Palestinians
U.S. Inflation Rises to 2.4% in May Amid Trade Tensions
Trump's Policies Prompt Decline in Chinese Student Enrollment in U.S.
Global Oceans Near Record Temperatures as CO₂ Levels Climb
Trump Announces U.S.-China Trade Deal Covering Rare Earths
Smuggled U.S. Fuel Funds Mexican Cartels Amid Crackdown
Protests Erupt in Los Angeles with Symbolic Flag Burning
Trump Administration Issues New Travel Ban Targeting 12 Countries
Man Group Mandates Full-Time Office Return for Quantitative Analysts
JPMorgan Warns Analysts Against Accepting Future-Dated Job Offers
Builder.ai Faces Legal Scrutiny Amid Financial Misreporting Allegations
Japan Grapples with Rice Shortage Amid Soaring Prices
Goldman Sachs Reduces Risk Exposure Amid Market Volatility
HSBC Chairman Mark Tucker to Return to AIA as Non-Executive Chair
Israel Confirms Arming Gaza Clan to Counter Hamas Influence
Judge Blocks Trump's Ban on International Students at Harvard
Trump Proposes Travel Ban on 'Uncontrolled' Countries
Panama Port Owner Balances US-China Pressures
Trump Administration Accused of Obstructing Deportation Cases
Trump’s China Strategy Remains a Geopolitical Puzzle
Eurozone Inflation Falls Below ECB Target to 1.9%
Call for a New Chapter in Globalisation Emerges
Blackstone and Rivals Diverge on Private Equity Strategy
Mayor’s Security Officer Implicated | Shocking New Details Emerge in NYC Kidnapping Case
Bangkok Ranked World's Top City for Remote Work in 2025
Denmark Increases Retirement Age to 70, Setting a European Precedent
Netanyahu Accuses Western Leaders of 'Emboldening Hamas'
Escalating Trade Tensions and Market Reactions
OnlyFans Reportedly in Talks for $8 Billion Sale
JBS Gains Shareholder Approval for U.S. Stock Listing
Booz Allen Hamilton to Cut 2,500 Jobs Amid Federal Spending Reductions
Trump Signs Executive Orders to Accelerate Nuclear Energy Development
Harvard Temporarily Blocks Trump Administration's International Student Ban
Nippon Steel Forms Partnership with U.S. Steel, Headquarters to Remain in Pittsburgh
Trump Expands Tariff Threats to Apple and Samsung Devices
×