First Solar agreed to refrain from using minerals mined from the deep sea, an early win for shareholder environmental activists and a sign their agenda might make progress despite opposition from U.S.
First Solar agreed to refrain from using minerals mined from the deep sea, an early win for shareholder environmental activists and a sign their agenda might make progress despite opposition from U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.
The Tempe, Arizona-based photovoltaic manufacturer will keep the minerals out of its supply chain "until scientific findings are sufficient to assess the environmental risks of this potentially devastating new mining process," according to a summary of the agreement provided to Reuters by advocacy group As You Sow. In return, the group withdrew a shareholder resolution calling for a moratorium on such minerals.
The step is hardly revolutionary: other companies and governments have made similar commitments on worries that the quest to exploit the seabed for rare metals like those used for electric vehicle batteries could damage the ocean's ecosystem.
But it could encourage shareholders worried about the backlash against environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment considerations from the Trump Administration and other Republican U.S. officials.
The springtime annual meeting season is approaching against the backdrop of the early days of Trump's second term, which have brought chaos to disbursal of U.S. foreign assistance, uncertainty for automakers and pressure on corporate diversity programs.
The First Solar
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