Financial Times | BP is coming under increasing pressure from activist investors and pension funds after the oil major’s pivot away from renewable energy.
Proxy adviser Glass Lewis has recommended voting against the re-election of BP chair Albert Manifold over concerns about climate-related reporting. Investment group Legal & General also said it would oppose him.
Both groups said a decision by BP’s board to exclude a climate-related shareholder resolution from Follow This at its annual meeting later this month raised concerns about transparency. The proposal had asked BP to set out strategies for maintaining shareholder value if oil and gas demand declines.
[…]Glass Lewis, the influential advisory group, said the exclusion of the proposal had not been necessary and raised “concerns about transparency, shareholder communication and responsiveness”. It comes in the context of mounting pressure on BP from activist investors and pension funds after the oil major’s pivot away from renewable energy.
Legal & General Investment Management said the exclusion of the proposal amounted to a “reduction in transparency” and would make it more difficult for shareholders to understand how BP was addressing the risks associated with the energy transition. “Given the chair’s ultimate responsibility for these areas, we accordingly intend to vote against the chair’s election,” the group said.
Follow This said: “The two most influential proxy advisers in the world are telling shareholders the same thing we are: BP’s governance is broken.”
