Highlights of Proxy Season Show Continuing Shift Away from ESG

Debevoise & Plimpton recently released a memo summarizing the 2025 proxy season in the wake of SEC guidance affecting shareholder engagement and activism and U.S. government initiatives. Debevoise noted that “revised proxy advisor and institutional shareholder guidelines were cause for many companies to review their DEI initiatives and related disclosures.” Among other trends, Debevoise found the average support for environmental proposals remained low (approximately 14% in 2025, compared to approximately 19% in 2024) and that no environmental proposals received majority support from shareholders as of June 30, 2025. 

Additional highlights from Debevoise’s memo include:

  • Overall, the number of Rule 14a-8 shareholder proposals that were included on the ballots of U.S. companies (442) declined compared to 2024 (591).
  •  The number of ESG-related shareholder proposals declined overall. As of June 30, 2025, shareholders had voted on 400 ESG-related proposals, including proposals critical of traditional ESG policies. In the same period in 2024, shareholders had voted on 529 ESG-related proposals. 
  • The number of environmental and social or “E&S’ proposals that were voted upon continued a decline that began around 2020. Debevoise reported that a total of 66 environmental resolutions proceeded to a vote in the first half of 2025, compared to 90 in the 2024 period. 
  • Social proposals, or the “S” in ESG, declined both in number and support. A total of 149 social proposals proceeded to a vote in the first half of 2025, down from 256 in the same period in 2024.
  • For governance proposals, 185 proceeded to a vote, up slightly from the 183 in the comparable period in 2024. Support for governance-related proposals increased, with 51% of shareholders supporting these proposals on average, up from the 36% average support rate for the 2024 season.
  • Additionally, many companies scaled back their board diversity and other diversity and equity and inclusion-related disclosures, Debevoise reported. There were fewer companies using standalone statistics regarding board diversity in their proxy disclosure and some switched to a skills matrix format that incorporated certain demographic attributes.

Click here to read the Debevoise memo on the 2025 proxy season.