.jpg)
London, 12 June 2026: PensionBee, a leading online retirement savings provider, has said pension savers are seeking greater transparency from major technology companies following recent shareholder votes at the Annual General Meetings (‘AGMs’) of Meta and Alphabet on resolutions linked to the growing energy demands of AI and data centres.
Shareholder resolutions filed at both companies' AGMs this year called on their respective boards to report on how they plan to meet their existing greenhouse gas emissions commitments as AI-related energy demand accelerates.
At Meta's AGM on 27 May, the proposal received around 7% support and did not pass, heavily influenced by the company's dual class voting structure, which gives founder shareholders outsized control. Alphabet operates a similar structure, giving founders and executives disproportionate voting power over ordinary shareholders. Resolution proponents have acknowledged this, noting that the vote is less about the specific outcome and more about giving investors a meaningful opportunity to signal concern. Alphabet shareholders put forward a similar proposal seeking to enhance disclosure on climate related goals on 5 June, which was also rejected.
The issue is directly related to the priorities of PensionBee’s customers. PensionBee’s latest Climate Plan survey found that 34% of respondents ranked reducing greenhouse gas emissions as their number one sustainability priority. The survey also found that 83% want PensionBee to divest from companies that fail to improve on sustainability commitments, while 74% support shareholder resolutions intended to drive positive change. PensionBee voted in favour of both Meta and Alphabet’s AGM resolutions, representing what customers said matters most to them.
Customer feedback highlighted growing concern around the environmental impact of AI expansion, particularly the tension between net zero commitments and the rapid increase in energy demand associated with large scale data centres.
The vote outcomes at both AGMs reveal a great deal about whether boards at large tech companies are genuinely committed to transparency on this issue, or whether they are content to let the question go unanswered.
Giorgia Antonacci, Head of Sustainability at PensionBee, said:
“The rapid growth of AI infrastructure is creating major new energy demands, raising important questions about how some of the world’s largest companies plan to meet their climate commitments.
“Our customers have been clear that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is their top sustainability priority. These resolutions were fundamentally about transparency, asking companies to explain how they intend to reconcile surging AI-related energy demand with the emissions targets they have already set themselves.
While these resolutions did not pass, investor scrutiny on this issue is clearly growing. For pension savers, climate commitments need to remain credible, measurable and accountable, particularly as AI becomes a larger part of the global economy.”
%201.png){kind=small}