You can find Tulipshare's proposal listed as Item 7 on Mondelēz's 2024 proxy statement here.
Mondelēz's 2024 annual shareholder meeting was held on Wednesday, May 22 at 9 am Central Time.
Why It Matters:
Despite industry promises to the contrary, child labor in the cocoa producing industry has been steadily increasing. A recent US Department of Labor-funded study found that 1.56 million children are harvesting cocoa in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. This is two decades after the major cocoa companies promised to end their reliance on child labor in the 2001 Harkin-Engel Protocol. Many children are trafficked from Mali and Burkina Faso to work under slavery-like conditions. Forced child labor routinely results in extreme bodily and mental harm, and in nearly every case, it cuts children off from schooling and health care, restricting their fundamental rights and threatening their futures. Moreover, United Nations officials estimated that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these issues, funnelling millions of children into the workforce, including ten-year-olds working on cocoa plantations in West Africa.
Poverty is a root cause of child labor. When workers are not paid a living wage, they struggle to afford child care, school, and are often forced to send their children to work in order to make a survivable income. Therefore, without a commitment to pay all workers a living wage, Mondelēz cannot effectively eliminate child labor from its supply chain.
This clear violation of human rights also adversely impacts a corporation's ESG ratings, thereby inhibiting investors, worsening their risk management, increasing their costs, reducing their revenues and lowering their share price. With blockchain and distributed ledger technology, companies now have a safe and transparent tool to effectively monitor and police their supply chains and there is no longer any financial excuse for forced child labor to be a part of any company's supply chain. Studies have documented that implementing a progressive child labor policy has an overall positive effect on revenue.
This proposal received 19.8% shareholder support in 2023 and 22.43% support in 2024. Breaking the 20% support threshold is quite an achievement, and, according to the majority of asset managers and major proxy advisory firms, should result in meaningful action by the board. This significant jump in support from Mondelēz's investors sends a strong signal to the company that child labor policies and practices must be improved.
AGM RESULTS
Our proposal received a supporting vote of 22.43% at Mondelez's 2024 AGM, this is a significant level of shareholder support!
RECORD DATE
The record date pertains to the date by which investors must hold their shares in a company in order to participate in the company’s AGM. We will update this page as the record date and 2025 AGM date are announced.
Voting at the AGM
If you hold Mondelez stock before the next AGM record date, you will be eligible to vote at the next AGM and receive an email from us closer to the deadline.
campaign progress
What is shareholder activism?
Shareholder activism is when shareholders use their influence as owners of a company to effectuate change within the organisation.
What is Tulipshare?
Tulipshare is a sustainable investment fund and shareholder advocacy group on a mission to help investors push for stronger environmental and social commitments, using corporate governance to create a positive impact and ensure the companies we invest our money in are being responsibly managed by accountable leadership.
How does Tulipshare improve sustainability through investing?
Tulipshare addresses issues pertaining to climate change, human rights, racial and gender equity, political spending and operational transparency within some of America’s biggest publicly traded companies - issues that if left unaddressed could expose a company and its investors to significant legal, reputational and financial risks.
