US voting support for environmental and social resolutions drops 22%
There was a 40% decrease in environmental and social (E&S) resolutions in the US for the 2025 proxy year, according to Morningstar’s research.
In its 2025 ESG Shareholder Voting Review, Morningstar highlighted the “notable reduction” in the volume of major resolutions with changes to SEC shareholder resolution guidance also leading to a 22% drop in voted proposals.
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Breaking it down, average support for conventional governance proposals was 35% , compared to 36% in 2024, while support for conventional E&S proposals was 16%, down from 20% in 2024. Further, the proportion of E&S resolutions receiving less than 5% support has increased from 8% to 27% over five years.
“Following this year’s proxy voting season, it’s clear the market is losing critical signals on sustainability factors many investors view as vital for long-term investment decisions. There were only 30 significant environmental and social resolutions in the 2025 proxy year (i.e. those with at least 30% support from independent shareholders), a stark contrast to the 100+ we saw in each of the five years prior,” said Lindsey Stewart (pictured), director of institutional investor content at Morningstar.”
However, support for E&S resolutions in Europe remains strong.
“The wide gap in voting support for significant E&S resolutions between US and European asset managers persists, but it narrowed slightly in 2025. While six major US asset managers (BlackRock, State Street, Vanguard, J.P. Morgan, Invesco, and Dimensional) showed an average support of 18% – a modest rise from 17% in 2024 but far below the 46% peak in 2021 – their European counterparts (Amundi, Fidelity, Legal & General, NBIM, Schroders, and UBS) maintained a strikingly high average of 91%, consistent over the past five years.”
The research also found support for standard ESG resolutions in the US, not including those by ‘anti-ESG’ filers, has remained steady for three years at around 26–27%.
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