Inside, Siemens boss Joe Kaeser is struggling for sovereignty in the climate debate, outside hundreds of protesters sing against carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases. The general meeting of the Siemens group in Munich’s Olympiahalle was dominated by the question of whether the group could accept orders for climate-damaging projects.
It is now about more than the delivery of a train signal system worth 18 million euros for the huge coal mining project of the Adani Group in Australia, where the dispute sparked.
Kaeser called “almost grotesque” that Siemens had become the “target of numerous environmental activists” because of this “unfortunate project in Australia”. After all, Siemens is “only involved in the second derivation” and the delivery for the mine is “irrelevant”. One has to ask where this debate ends: If in doubt, should Siemens not be able to supply energy-saving building technology for the headquarters of a large mining company?
Several hundred climate activists replied on Wednesday before and at the general meeting. On posters they described Siemens as a “fire accelerator for climate criminals”. Fridays for Future activist Luisa Neubauer said: “It’s not just about Adani, it’s not just about a coal mine.” Rather, it is “about fundamental decisions.” She also announced protests at general meetings of other companies. In the hall, six Extinction Rebellion activists stuck to a railing and to each other’s hands.
Climate change and the Adani mandate also played a decisive role in the speeches made at the Annual General Meeting. Varsha Yajman of the Australian Fridays for Future counterpart said that it was “a shame” that Siemens had signed the contract with Adani while Australia was on fire. Helena Marschall from Fridays for Future Germany accused Siemens of “dishonest staging as a climate group” and warned Kaeser: “You will lose your customers – at least the future ones.”
Kaeser replied Marshal with the words: “We agree on the diagnosis. But so far only we have started the therapy.” However, the Siemens boss was increasingly frustrated in the climate debate. “You can’t win on such issues because the claim that many have on the other hand is a legitimate one,” said the manager. However, he accused his critics of pursuing a “business model activism”.
“Behavioral” fiscal year
However, some investors accuse Kaeser of fueling the conflict over the Adani project with contradicting messages. Vera Diehl from Union Investment called the communication around Adani a “disaster”. Daniela Bergdolt of the German Association for the Protection of Securities said that Kaeser had unnecessarily “messed up” in dealing with the Adani order. But she emphasized that he also did a lot of things correctly and very well.
The supervisory board chief Jim Hagemann Snabe warned the shareholders several times not to use the question and answer session as a “political stage”. “We cannot solve the world’s sustainability at the AGM,” he said. Several times he had to choke off speakers at the end of their speaking time. Despite the 63 requests to speak, the end of the meeting was not yet in sight in the afternoon.
The figures that Kaeser presented for the first business quarter before the start of the Annual General Meeting were not brilliant. He himself said that the business year had started “somewhat cautiously”. The company felt the weakness of its key customers, the automotive industry and mechanical engineering. In addition, the wind energy subsidiary Siemens Gamesa posted significant losses. Here, however, Siemens has secured greater influence: the night before the general meeting, the group announced that it would take over the shares of the minority shareholder Iberdrola, with whom there had been repeated disputes in the past. Kaeser now hopes that “the management will have more capacity to take a closer look at the improvement in profitability”.
Kaeser’s contract as chairman of the board expires at the end of the year. It was most likely his last general meeting at the top of Siemens. The most likely successor is his vice Roland Busch. Kaeser answered questions about the successor by pointing out that the Supervisory Board would make a decision in the summer. (Dpa / apa)
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