CNBC | “Blocking a resolution was just a symptom of a much huger problem, which is a governance issue” says Mark van Baal on CNBC. “BP’s governance is broken. The board of BP doesn’t talk to shareholders anymore. And that’s a problem which already exists for over a year.”
At the last AGM, BP shareholders punished chair Manifold for blocking a Follow This resolution by voting down two board resolutions by more than 50%, with 18% voting against him. “He was an incoming chair. It was not even his re election, it was his election and he got 18%. So that was extremely embarrassing,” says Van Baal. “BP chose to remove Manifold rather than reform its governance.”
On the broader failure of oil majors to invest in clean energy: “They all invested around 10% in clean energy, 90% still to fossil fuels. Then you can’t say you’re in a transition.”
Van Baal points to structural demand drop-off ahead: “We’re looking at the structural decline as of 2029. Then peak oil will happen according to the IEA. Then demand for oil and gas will go down. And they’re not prepared for it.”
