Summer Meeting 2025: New Projects, Same Strong Commitment

On June 5th and 6th, Shareholders for Change members gathered in Milan for our two-day annual summer meeting, kindly hosted by Etica Funds.

Day 1 focused on corporate engagement and sector-specific deep dives. We began with a session featuring representatives from Pirelli, who presented the company’s profile, governance challenges, and ESG strategy. 
Next, Luca Riganelli from the UN-PRI introduced Spring, a stewardship initiative involving several companies (including Pirelli), designed to address the systemic risks posed by biodiversity loss — a crucial step in long-term investor interests.

The conversation then shifted to the defence sector. SfC member Fondazione Finanza Etica presented ZeroArmi, a powerful project assessing the involvement of Italian financial institutions in arms production. Etica Funds shared information about its Autonomous Weapons Systems Campaign. This was followed by the official launch of SfC’s latest report on critical shareholding in the defence sector.

The day concluded with a strategic discussion within the critical shareholding working group, which explored priorities and directions for the months ahead.

Day 2 was dedicated to peer learning and strategic development. In the morning, members took part in a workshop on improving impact assessment and making engagement strategies more effective. A second workshop followed, focusing on nuclear energy in both civil and military contexts. 

In the final session, members presented new collaborative project ideas and shared updates on engagements launched last year — including our ongoing dialogue with ESG rating agencies. We also agreed to endorse the document: “Why Impact Investing Should Be Recognised in the EU Sustainable Finance Framework – and How This Could Look”, drafted by the SFDR Impact Investing Taskforce.

The meeting was an important opportunity to connect, reflect, and share ideas — from in-house research to network-led engagement strategies.