AGM season is always a busy time of year for ShareAction as we help people probe directors of large listed firms about their social and environmental performance. So far in 2018, we’ve been at 58 company meetings, putting over 100 questions to boards of listed firms across Europe.

The issues raised tend to be pertinent and material ones for companies’ long-term financial performance, but they’re also designed to elicit from boards and executive teams decisions that will serve the public interest in one way or another. In that sense, they tap into a widespread and growing demand from the public at large that big business should operate sustainably and responsibly.