PRESS RELEASE
Follow This: ‘The board has left shareholders with no other option to signal their governance concerns after BP’s strategy U-turn.’
Follow This, a shareholder activist group backed by 17% of BP’s shareholders at the 2023 AGM, is urging investors in a letter * to vote against BP’s chair in protest against the company’s decision to reverse its climate strategy without seeking shareholder approval.
Shareholders Denied a Vote
“Voting against the board is the only way for shareholders to express their dissent over BP’s refusal to allow a vote on its strategy U-turn,” says Mark van Baal, founder of Follow This.
In 2022, BP offered shareholders a vote to support its energy transition strategy (resolution 3)**, which was approved by a majority. In 2023, 17% of shareholders voted for the Follow This climate resolution calling for stronger emissions targets aligned with the Paris Accord.
“Now, the board has unilaterally changed course without asking shareholder support with a vote. This raises serious governance concerns. It seems BP’s leadership is afraid of its own shareholders.”
A Vote Against the Chair as a Clear Signal
BP’s decision to sidestep shareholder approval has frustrated both climate-conscious investors and those who prioritize corporate governance.
“A significant vote against Helge Lund’s re-election will send a clear message: BP’s leadership must listen to all shareholders, not just one, alleged short-term activist investor,” says van Baal. Activist investor Elliott took a small stake in BP and allegedly pressures the company to focus on oil and gas.
“This vote is an opportunity to push back against the rising anti-climate sentiment in both politics and investment circles.”
“We don’t want the chair to resign. We want him to heed the message that he has crossed a governance line and retrace his steps by offering shareholders a vote.”
BP’s Leadership Risks the Company’s Future
Follow This warns that BP’s decision to increase fossil fuel investments puts the company at financial risk. The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasts a decline in oil and gas demand after 2029. BP’s own Energy Outlook 2024 predicts peak oil demand as early as 2025 (left graph on page 30).
“The board is ignoring these warnings [for a decline in fossil fuel demand], investing in what could become stranded assets, and even betting against its own analysts’ forecasts. Even shareholders who don’t prioritize climate risk should be concerned about BP’s financial stability.”
BP could face a sharp drop in share value as markets adjust to the realities of disruptive innovation, stranded assets, and climate-related liabilities. “Sooner or later, oil companies will be held accountable for climate damage costs,” van Baal adds.
Investors Hold the Key to Change
“We hope BP’s investors recognize the power they have to steer the company toward a financially sustainable future,” says van Baal.
“Shareholders have a responsibility to act before BP falls further behind in the energy transition.”
Follow This and BP: A Longstanding Push for Climate Action
In 2020, Follow This withdrew its climate resolution after then-CEO Bernard Looney committed to setting emissions reduction targets—an agreement announced in a joint press release with BP.
In 2021, 20% of BP’s shareholders, including BlackRock, supported the Follow This climate resolution, calling for stronger emissions targets (15% in 2022 and 17% in 2023).
Follow This did not file a resolution at BP in 2024 or 2025 due to a lack of investor appetite before BP’s U-turn. “BP was seen as a leader in the energy transition,” says Follow This. “But in reality, BP never made a serious effort to transition.”
“The alleged pressure of Elliott to take short-term measures, might make the board of BP finally recognizes Follow This and its supporting investors as their best friends to safeguard the future of BP.”
Read our response to BP’s strategy U-turn here and to BP’s denial of shareholder rights here.
* letter to Follow This’ 1,800 contacts in institutional investors (asset owners and asset managers)
** BP’s 2022 notice of meeting: “The intent of this resolution is to provide you, as the company’s shareholders, with an opportunity to express your view on the destination we have set and the path we are charting towards it. We ask for your support.”
“We intend […] to offer a further shareholder vote if we believe it is in the company’s interests to do so – potentially in 2025.”
