European asset owners are unimpressed by ExxonMobil’s decision to turn to the courts to try to block a climate shareholder resolution from going to the vote at its annual general meeting (AGM) this year and have said that they will consider what actions to take in response.
This week Reuters reported that the oil and gas major is asking a judge in Texas to rule that a shareholder resolution filed by Arjuna Capital and Follow This should not make it onto the agenda of its AGM in May.
[…]Those investors include Brunel Pension Partnership and London CIV in the UK, and Ethos in Switzerland. At Brunel, chief responsible investment officer Faith Ward said Exxon’s move was “both highly unusual and unnecessary given the existing powers of the SEC [Securities and Exchange Commission]”.
“Whilst we do not currently have any directly votable shares in Exxon, we have previously supported actions, including voting against all board elections in 2019 and supporting Engine No1 proposals in 2021, to demonstrate our shareholder dissatisfaction at Exxon’s progress on climate change,” she said.
“It is an important shareholder right to be able to escalate legitimate areas of concern, without fear of retaliation, and allow other shareholders the opportunity to support, or not. We are considering our next steps and will be speaking to our peers in the coming weeks,” Faith added.
At Ethos, which is co-filing the Shell resolution on behalf of Swiss pension funds, chief executive officer Vincent Kaufmann told IPE the news about the lawsuit was “very worrying regarding the willingness of Exxon to tackle the issue seriously”.
“The only positive thing is that it shows that progressive investors have a strong potential impact and the company tries more and more tactics to avoid their influence,” he added.
“We are still evaluating the different possibilities, but such a message should prompt investors which are sensitive to the climate question to escalate and refuse the re-election of certain board members, at least the chairman and CEO, the lead director and the chair of the sustainability committee,” Kaufmann noted.
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