FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BOSTON, MA — July 24, 2026 — A shareholder proposal filed by NorthStar Asset Management asking Linde plc to disclose a renewable electricity procurement strategy has won public support from major institutional investors ahead of the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on July 28.
Storebrand, AP2, and Ethos have announced they will vote in favor of the proposal. They join Lannebo and Ircantec, which pre-declared their support earlier. We expect that at the AGM, 18 institutional investors and their advisors representing US$1.56 trillion in assets will also read a joint statement urging Linde to strengthen its approach to renewable energy procurement.
Proposal 5 asks Linde’s board to report on whether and how it could adopt a policy to guide future renewable electricity purchases. NorthStar filed the proposal because Linde, one of the world’s largest corporate electricity consumers, has not disclosed how it makes those decisions.
Linde’s board has urged shareholders to vote against the proposal. In its proxy statement, the board argues that the company’s “sustainability and carbon reduction goals and policies include renewable energy targets and strategies” that, together with current disclosures, “substantially meet what the proposal requests,” making an additional report “not necessary or useful to shareholders.”
NorthStar disagrees, and believe Linde’s own recent actions undercut that position. The vote comes as Linde has quietly walked back its own climate commitments. In a recent update to its Climate Transition Plan, the company removed its target to more than triple low-carbon power procurement, dropped its pledge to raise renewable and low-carbon electricity from 35% to more than 50% of its power, and deleted its commitment to hold Scope 2 emissions flat or lower. It also removed earlier goals to develop green and blue hydrogen projects and to direct more than a third of its research budget to decarbonization. These changes were made without clear public explanation.
“Linde is one of the largest corporate electricity buyers in the world, yet investors still cannot see how it plans to secure that power,” said Madison Krieger, Activism and Impact Research Analyst at NorthStar Asset Management. “That is a financial risk, not only a climate one. Now the company is quietly weakening the very commitments it points to when it tells investors not to worry. That makes disclosure more urgent, not less. The support from Storebrand, AP2, Ethos and others shows investors want a real strategy before the next price shock, not after.”
The proposal is backed by the responsible investment organization ShareAction and by research from Actions Speak Louder. It will be voted on at Linde’s AGM at 1:00 PM BST on Tuesday, July 28.
About NorthStar Asset Management
NorthStar Asset Management is a Boston-based socially responsible investment firm with more than 35 years of history in shareholder engagement and proxy voting. NorthStar uses creative shareholder engagement to tackle pressing social and environmental issues.
Advisory services offered through NorthStar Asset Management, Inc., a registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply any level of skill or training. All investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute personalized investment advice or a recommendation or solicitation of any particular security, strategy, or investment product. Forecasts, opinions, and estimates reflect NorthStar’s judgment as of the date of this release and are subject to change without notice. Third-party statistics are believed to be reliable but have not been independently verified.
NorthStar Asset Management, its employees, and/or client accounts own securities of the company that is subject to the shareholder proposal discussed in this press release. Such ownership may create actual or perceived conflicts of interest. NorthStar believes that continued ownership of the issuer’s securities enables it to engage constructively with management and exercise shareholder rights. Any decision regarding engagement with, support for, co-filing of, or voting on any shareholder proposal is made in accordance with NorthStar’s fiduciary obligations and applicable proxy voting policies designed to mitigate material conflicts of interest, with the overall objective of acting in the best interest of clients.
Additional information regarding NorthStar, including fees, expenses, and risks of investment, is contained in NorthStar’s disclosure documents and should be reviewed carefully and can be accessed via https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/
For more information, visit northstarasset.com or email investforchange@northstarasset.com