This year's proxy season has arrived and, with it, another record-breaking wave of climate change activism. In total, 45 resolutions have been filed by investor groups, dwarfing last year's previous high of 36. The new crop of resolutions isn't just greater in number. The resolutions are also more ambitious than before and have greater support, as mainstream investors and stock-pickers throw their considerable weight behind the activist agenda. "More and more investors are paying attention to climate risks and opportunities," says Rob Berridge, manager for investor programs with CERES in Boston.

Most filings call for better information on the risks companies face and tend to target industries that are either big emitters of greenhouse gases or are seen as most exposed to the impact of climate change. But companies who believe they are safely below the activists' radar might be in for a surprise–the end goal is routine disclosure of climate-related risks and activities across entire industries.

Climate-related activism has become so mainstream–filers now include pension funds, foundations and labor funds, alongside the environmental groups that filed the first such resolutions 17 years ago–and the movement's concerns have become so widely accepted, that a major tipping point has already been reached, says Doug Cogan, director of climate change research with shareholder services firm ISS Proxy. Increasingly, he says, the targets of climate change resolutions simply agree to address investors' concerns before the vote takes place. In both 2005 and 2006, there were more of these withdrawals than votes. This year there have already been 15 resolutions withdrawn because companies agreed to take action prior to a vote. "But if that's the tipping-point, then the moment the seesaw touches down will be when this kind of information is routinely included in annual reports and securities filings. At the moment, investors still have to file to produce action, so we're not there yet," Cogan says.