Caterpillar's annual general meeting revealed that 96 per cent of investors now support a shareholder resolution filed by As You Sow, Amalgamated Bank, Canada Post, and SHARE.

The resolution asks management to release a report disclosing interim and long-term greenhouse gas targets aligned with the Paris Agreement's goal of maintaining global temperature rise at 1.5C, and progress made in achieving them. Targets should cover Scope 3 emissions from customer use of products that combust fuels for operation, which account for a vast majority of value-chain emissions.

"Today's majority vote is a loud and clear call from Caterpillar's ownership that the company must address its significant climate impact and step into a leadership position in decarbonising the industrials sector," said Ivan Frishberg, chief sustainability officer at Amalgamated Bank.

Currently, the company has failed to set science-aligned targets and has no targets covering its emissions from customers' use of its products. The Climate Action 100+, a coalition of 700 investors with $68tr in assets, lists Caterpillar as a focus company and one of the largest carbon emitters globally.

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