The Guardian | A federal court in Texas has dismissed a lawsuit brought by ExxonMobil against activist shareholders pushing for the oil giant to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as contributions to anthropogenic climate change.
The lawsuit aimed at Arjuna Capital was dismissed after a lawyer for the activist investor group agreed not to pursue its effort to put climate science on the agenda at the company’s annual meetings.
At heart, the dispute centered on whether climate risk is a legitimate business concern and part of a corporate pushback against shareholder proposals. Exxon’s lawsuit had raised alarm among investors that by going through the courts rather than regulators at the US’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) because it could restrict the ability of shareholders to raise concerns with public companies.
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Netherlands-based climate group Follow This, which had been joined to the Arjuna claim, characterized the order as a victory for climate activists.
“The dismissal of Exxon’s lawsuit against shareholders is a victory for all investors who want to safeguard the long-term future of US oil and gas companies and the global economy in view of the climate crisis,” said Follow This founder Mark van Baal.
“The right for shareholders to file proposals has not been compromised as no precedent about the application of the SEC rules and use of shareholder rights has been created, which was the ultimate goal of pulling our proposal.”
Van Baal said that withdrawing the lawsuit was “the toughest decision in the history of Follow This, but we had to take one for the team, the global team of responsible investors. We are glad that our withdrawal was not in vain.”
