Regarding Agenda Item 3: To ratify the acts of the members of the Executive Board
The Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany requests that the acts of the members of the Executive Board not be ratified.
Rationale:
The Executive Board impedes the energy transition unnecessarily and is not fulfilling its human rights due diligence obligation.
Siemens Gamesa: Problems jeopardize path toward a climate-neutral power supply
For years, the Executive Board has been unable to get to grips with the problems at the wind power unit Siemens Gamesa, in particular massive quality and productivity problems with some turbines. The resultant losses have even necessitated government aid in the form of guarantees running into the billions to ensure that the order backlog can be handled at all. That means not only that risks are socialized unnecessarily, but also that the already difficult task of expanding wind power – with the aim of quickly ending power generation from climate-damaging energy sources – is impeded. However, insufficient human rights due diligence has now also led to restrictions on government aid for Siemens Energy.
Wind farms in Western Sahara without consent: German government restricts support for Siemens Energy
For years we have criticized the wind farms of Siemens Gamesa respectively Siemens Energy in the territories of Western Sahara occupied by Morocco in contravention of international law. These have been built without the necessary consent of the Sahrawis and contribute to the illegal plundering of Western Sahara’s resources. European courts have repeatedly issued clear rulings that the consent of the people of Western Sahara to economic activities must be obtained.
Among other things, the wind farms, which are also maintained by Siemens Gamesa, supply electricity to the phosphate mine in Western Sahara, which Moroccan state-owned companies are exploiting in violation of international law. By cooperating with the occupying power and with Nareva, a private company owned by the king of Morocco, Siemens Energy is supporting and stabilizing this exploitation of resources and occupation which contravenes international law and is accompanied by massive human rights violations. So that the German government does not also contribute to this oppression, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action clarified in mid-November 2023 in response to a related interpellation from Ali Al-Dailami, a member of the German Bundestag:
“In the course of further negotiations and in the context of structuring the guarantee modalities and conditions, we will ensure that the provision of avals from the credit line guaranteed by the Federal Government for projects in the Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara are excluded. […] The Federal Government does not support projects in the territory of the Western Sahara.” (see https://www.bmwk.de/Redaktion/DE/Parlamentarische-Anfragen/2023/11/11- 048.pdf?__blob=publicationFile&v=4)
Since Siemens Energy benefits from government aid, the Executive Board should also apply at least the same human rights standards as the German government and ensure that it is no longer involved in any exploitation in violation of international law.
Billions of investments in fossil gas projects are at odds with international climate targets
The more than 1 billion tons of CO2e that will be emitted from using products sold by Siemens Energy in the last fiscal year alone (Scope 3 downstream) highlight the consequences of sticking to the fossil fuel business model, especially with gas turbines. The climate damage for which Siemens Energy is responsible is on a par with that of industrialized countries. By comparison, France and Germany together were responsible for the same amount of emissions last year. Although Siemens Energy has now set itself the goal of reducing Scope 3 downstream emissions by a meager 28 percent by 2030 compared to 2019 levels, this kicks tackling the actual challenges down the road into the distant future, especially as it is not clear in which increments further reductions are to be made after 2030.
Siemens Energy is far from being able to reconcile its own growth plans with effective climate protection. On the one hand, this is evidenced by the increase in upstream emissions in the manufacture of Siemens Energy products and from its services (Scope 3 upstream). On the other hand, Siemens Energy continues to make substantial investments worldwide in projects based on fossil gas, such as LNG terminals and gas-fired power plants. According to the Annual Report, revenue from electricity generation from fossil gaseous fuels totaled €4.43 billion in 2023. These investments are at odds with German, EU and global climate targets. By continuing to invest heavily in fossil fuels, the Executive Board of Siemens Energy is prioritizing short-term profits over effective climate protection and is making a significant contribution to the fact that fossil gas will be used far longer than absolutely necessary. Instead, the Executive Board should align the business strategy in the Gas Services Business Area with an emissions reduction path that is compatible with the 1.5-degree target and in doing so should not set store by climate-damaging and financially risky technologies such as blue hydrogen or CCS. After all, by not phasing out fossil gas, Siemens Energy is exacerbating the climate crisis.
Regarding Agenda Item 4: To ratify the acts of the members of the Supervisory Board
The Association of Ethical Shareholders Germany requests that the acts of the members of the Supervisory Board not be ratified.
Rationale:
The Supervisory Board has not adequately fulfilled its oversight function with regard to the continuation of business with Russia’s nuclear energy corporation Rosatom.
No cooperation with war criminals: Siemens Energy must break off nuclear business with Rosatom immediately
Despite numerous reports about the involvement of Russia’s state atomiс energy corporation Rosatom in the development of materiel and weapons systems and thus its embroilment in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Siemens Energy still wishes to fulfill existing contracts for Rosatom projects. Among other things, high-tech products such as I&C technology for the Paks II nuclear power plant in Hungary, which is currently under construction, are to be supplied.
Hungary is already dependent on Russia for its energy supply. The new nuclear power plant would dramatically aggravate this dependency. Siemens Energy should finally live up to its own responsibility and immediately stop all business with Rosatom and definitively rule out concluding new contracts – for example for new nuclear power plants – as well as for joint projects with Framatome.
Rosatom is directly involved in the forcible takeover of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant Zaporizhzhia in Ukraine. In Russia, the company is responsible for producing nuclear weapons. In addition, there are numerous reports that Rosatom is closely intertwined with Russia’s conventional arms industry and actively helps provide arms manufacturers with access to sanctioned goods.
Such a company cannot and must not be a business partner of Siemens Energy. Anyone who places greater value on abiding by contracts in such a case has lost all moral compass.
