HSBC saw pushback against its new chairman at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) amid concerns about the lender’s progress on climate action.

Nearly 8% of investor votes opposed the election of Brendan Nelson at the meeting in London on Friday – an unusual result for a new chairman, who would expect almost unanimous support in their first year.

Just over 8% of votes also went against the re-election of James Forese as an independent non-executive director and chair of the group risk committee.

In comparison, last year’s AGM saw former chairman Mark Tucker receive less than 2% opposition, and Mr Foreses was backed by almost 100% of votes.

While neither resolution received the 50% needed to fail or attracted a substantial shareholder rebellion, the dissenting votes this year can still be seen as a protest against the board.

It came after activists criticised HSBC over a series of recent decisions to soften its targets for reducing the planet-heating emissions driven by its lending to polluting…