Activists target Samsung C&T over coal project

Bloomberg

Activist climate investors warned Samsung C&T over its potential involvement in a new coal power plant in Southeast Asia amid mounting global pressure to halt use of the dirtiest fossil fuel.
Investment arms of Legal & General Group Plc, the UK’s biggest manager of corporate pension schemes, Norway’s KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS and Helsinki-based Nordea Bank Abp, have urged the South Korean company not to participate in the construction of the controversial plant in Vietnam.
The project “poses significant reputational and climate related risks,” said Meryam Omi, the head of sustainable investing at Legal & General Investment Management Ltd. “We have asked the
company to commit to no involvement in construction of new coal plants and will continue to engage with them on this matter.”
While the shareholders own just a tiny fraction of the de facto holding company of the Samsung empire, such public pressure is an increasingly common tactic by funds to put fossil fuel-engaged companies under the spotlight amid the global push against climate change. The funds are focussed on Samsung’s potential role in constructing the Vung Ang 2 project, which may come after state-run utility Korea Electric Power Corp finalises an impending investment in the venture.