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By David Dolan and Daniel Leussink
TOKYO, May 10 (Reuters) - A trio of European asset managers has submitted a shareholder proposal urging Toyota Motor Corp to improve disclosure of its lobbying on climate change, likely the first time such a resolution will go before the Japanese automaker's investors.
The move by the three funds, which collectively hold shares in the world's biggest automaker worth around $400 million, highlights the pressure new chief executive Koji Sato faces from green investors and climate activists over the company's environmental lobbying.
Toyota's board on Wednesday recommended that shareholders vote against the resolution, to be put to the company's annual general meeting in June.
The Japanese firm was once the undisputed global leader in environmentally friendly cars with the Prius hybrid, but more recently it has been criticised as slow to embrace battery electric vehicles (EVs). Think tank InfluenceMap has given it low ratings for opposing policies that would mandate the long-term phase-out of the internal combustion engine.
On Wednesday Toyota said it expects a five-fold jump in pure electric vehicle (EV) sales this business year.
Danish pension fund AkademikerPension, Norway's Storebrand Asset Management and Dutch pension investment company APG Asset Management want Toyota to commit to a comprehensive, annual review of its climate-related lobbying, they said on Wednesday.
That would include a report detailing whether such lobbying, including through industry associations and public statements, reduces risks for the company from climate change and aligns with the goals of the Paris Agreement as well as Toyota's own goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, they said in a statement.
"We're concerned that Toyota is missing out on profits from soaring EV sales, jeopardising its valuable brand and cementing its global laggard status," said Anders Schelde, AkademikerPension's chief investment officer.
"We need concrete policy changes and a better annual review drawing on independent data to calm international investors."
Toyota's board urged shareholders to vote against the proposal, saying there were still many obstacles to the mass-market adoption of electrified vehicles, including inadequate supplies of clean energy in some countries. As such, reaching carbon neutrality meant the use of hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles, it said.
The board said Toyota planned to this year improve the annual report it has been publishing since 2021 that details its public-relations efforts on climate. This will include the appointment of an "accredited third party" to review the evaluation of its work with industry associations.