NEW YORK: A fresh round in the battle for equal pay will be fought at upcoming US corporate annual meetings, where investors will demand that firms reveal how much less women earn than men.
The latest tactic is to use shareholder resolutions — where stock owners propose issues to be voted upon — to request companies’ average salaries, said Natasha Lamb, a managing partner at the investment firm Arjuna Capital.
Arjuna, which specializes in sustainable and ethical investing, is asking nearly a dozen tech, retail and banking companies to disclose median pay at their annual meetings with shareholders, she said.
“They all have big gender pay gaps, and until they open up and be honest about what those gaps are, we won’t have a baseline for which to measure progress going forward,” Lamb said ahead of Friday’s International Women’s Day.
“Women are often holding these lower-paying positions and not as many of these high-paying leadership positions.”
Under British law, businesses with more than 250 staff have to submit their gender pay gap figures annually — but this is not the case in the United States, where women working full-time earn 20 percent less than men on average.
Pressing companies to reveal their average pay can help fix gender-based problems in hiring and promoting, campaigners say.
Just one company, the giant bank Citigroup Inc, disclosed its global gender pay gap — of 29 percent — in response to an Arjuna request earlier this year.
Opponents argue that providing such data is costly, that pay data without context is meaningless and posting the information publicly could invite a deluge of lawsuits.
Shareholder resolutions for social action are becoming popular among gender activists, catching up with those focused on electoral contributions and climate change, said Michael Passoff, head of Proxy Impact, which supports investor advocacy.
The tactic first caught on in the 1970s when investors demanded companies divest from South Africa during apartheid rule. The resolutions are non-binding and often put forward by large pension funds or faith-based investors.
“Median pay shows the gap ... in hiring and positions,” Passoff told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“That’s the thing that the gender pay shareholder campaign is starting to focus on this year.”
Gender is the focus of nearly a third of some 400 shareholder resolutions dealing with social, environmental and governance issues proposed for the upcoming slate of annual meetings, said Passoff.
“There’s a whole emerging world of gender equality and shareholder advocacy that I think is going to be very powerful,” said Andrew Behar, chief executive of As You Sow, a group that promotes corporate responsibility.
A study in the Harvard Business Review this year found mandatory disclosure of pay data in Denmark led to more women being hired and promoted and better pay for low and mid-level workers.
“There’s power in having the data out in the open because companies know that they can do better,” Lamb said.
‘Be honest’ about US gender pay gap, investors tell firms
‘Be honest’ about US gender pay gap, investors tell firms
- Pressing companies to reveal their average pay can help fix gender-based problems in hiring and promoting, campaigners say
First EU–Saudi roundtable on critical raw materials reflects shared policy commitment
RIYADH: The EU–Saudi Arabia Business and Investment Dialogue on Advancing Critical Raw Materials Value Chains, held in Riyadh as part of the Future Minerals Forum, brought together senior policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to advance strategic cooperation across critical raw materials value chains.
Organized under a Team Europe approach by the EU–GCC Cooperation on Green Transition Project, in coordination with the EU Delegation to Saudi Arabia, the European Chamber of Commerce in the Kingdom and in close cooperation with FMF, the dialogue provided a high-level platform to explore European actions under the EU Critical Raw Materials Act and ResourceEU alongside the Kingdom’s aspirations for minerals, industrial, and investment priorities.
This is in line with Saudi Vision 2030 and broader regional ambitions across the GCC, MENA, and Africa.
ResourceEU is the EU’s new strategic action plan, launched in late 2025, to secure a reliable supply of critical raw materials like lithium, rare earths, and cobalt, reducing dependency on single suppliers, such as China, by boosting domestic extraction, processing, recycling, stockpiling, and strategic partnerships with resource-rich nations.
The first ever EU–Saudi roundtable on critical raw materials was opened by the bloc’s Ambassador to the Kingdom, Christophe Farnaud, together with Saudi Deputy Minister for Mining Development Turki Al-Babtain, turning policy alignment into concrete cooperation.
Farnaud underlined the central role of international cooperation in the implementation of the EU’s critical raw materials policy framework.
“As the European Union advances the implementation of its Critical Raw Materials policy, international cooperation is indispensable to building secure, diversified, and sustainable value chains. Saudi Arabia is a key partner in this effort. This dialogue reflects our shared commitment to translate policy alignment into concrete business and investment cooperation that supports the green and digital transitions,” said the ambassador.
Discussions focused on strengthening resilient, diversified, and responsible CRM supply chains that are essential to the green and digital transitions.
Participants explored concrete opportunities for EU–Saudi cooperation across the full value chain, including exploration, mining, and processing and refining, as well as recycling, downstream manufacturing, and the mobilization of private investment and sustainable finance, underpinned by high environmental, social, and governance standards.
From the Saudi side, the dialogue was framed as a key contribution to the Kingdom’s industrial transformation and long-term economic diversification agenda under Vision 2030, with a strong focus on responsible resource development and global market integration.
“Developing globally competitive mineral hubs and sustainable value chains is a central pillar of Saudi Vision 2030 and the Kingdom’s industrial transformation. Our engagement with the European Union through this dialogue to strengthen upstream and downstream integration, attract high-quality investment, and advance responsible mining and processing. Enhanced cooperation with the EU, capitalizing on the demand dynamics of the EU Critical Raw Materials Act, will be key to delivering long-term value for both sides,” said Al-Babtain.
Valere Moutarlier, deputy director-general for European industry decarbonization, and directorate-general for the internal market, industry, entrepreneurship and SMEs at European Commission, said the EU Critical Raw Materials Act and ResourceEU provided a clear framework to strengthen Europe’s resilience while deepening its cooperation with international partners.
“Cooperation with Saudi Arabia is essential to advancing secure, sustainable, and diversified critical raw materials value chains. Dialogues such as this play a key role in translating policy ambitions into concrete industrial and investment cooperation,” she added.
