Nike shareholders reject climate proposal backed by Norway wealth fund

At their annual meeting on Tuesday, Nike shareholders rejected a resolution urging the company to provide fuller disclosure on its climate goals, including specifics on how the sportswear maker plans to achieve its emissions-reduction targets, Nike said.

The measure reignited questions about whether Nike—long positioned as a climate leader—is still devoting sufficient attention to its environmental objectives while navigating financial pressure, political heat in the United States, and global regulatory scrutiny over misleading environmental claims.

The Oregon-based company said in 2019 that it aimed to cut carbon emissions by 65% in its own operations and by 30% across its supply chain by 2030. In a fiscal 2024 update, Nike said its supply-chain emissions had fallen 11% from a 2015 baseline.

Nike, which has a market capitalization of approximately $56 billion, did not release the shareholder vote tallies.

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, Nike's 11th-largest shareholder according to LSEG data, said earlier this week that it would support the push for increased transparency.

"It's not that we think Nike is completely dropping the ball here. It's more that we want to know what's really going on," said Giovanna Eichner, shareholder advocate at Green Century Capital Management, which introduced the climate proposal. "It's unclear if there's that same level of commitment toward achieving the goals."

Nike's 2024 impact report detailed its efforts to use recyclable polyester and rubber and to help factories in its supply chain source renewable energy. In last year's report, however, those detailed climate narratives were replaced with a list of emissions and waste data points.

Nike's board recommended that shareholders vote against the resolution, arguing in a filing that the company remains committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and that management is "best positioned to determine the targets and related disclosures that are appropriate."

The athletic footwear maker is wrestling with slumping sales, eroded market share, and a push by CEO Elliott Hill to reinvigorate product innovation nearly two years into his tenure. Its shares have fallen about 40% so far this year.

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION APPROVED

Shareholders on Tuesday ultimately supported the company's contested proposal to approve executive compensation. Hill's total compensation for fiscal 2026 was more than $36 million.

Norway's wealth fund had said it would vote against the executive pay packages, asserting that Nike's board "should ensure that all benefits have a clear business rationale." Proxy advisers Glass Lewis and Institutional Shareholder Services had also recommended voting against the compensation plans.

A separate proposal from a group of conservative investors urging Nike to exclude gender-transition surgery for minors in employee health plans also failed to pass. The resolution, part of a broader campaign against employers, added to scrutiny of Nike's diversity policies.