The New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, and a coalition of investors have again asked Exxon Mobil Corp. stockholders to approve a policy identifying how efforts to mitigate climate change will affect the company.
The pension fund and the Church of England investment fund are co-leaders of a shareholder's resolution to be submitted to the company's annual meeting. Among the four dozen co-filers of the stockholder resolution are the $170.6 billion New York City Retirement Systems and $311.7 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento.
A similar resolution at last year's annual meeting received support of 38.2% of voting shares, Thomas DiNapoli, the New York state comptroller and sole trustee of the $186 billion New York pension fund, said in a news release Thursday.
“As investors, we are concerned that, unlike many of its peers, Exxon has not taken the steps necessary to demonstrate its resilience in a lower-carbon future,” Mr. DiNapoli said in the release.
The pension fund and the Church of England “are currently engaged in ongoing discussions with Exxon regarding their shareholder request,” the news release said. Exxon Mobil hasn't announced a date for its annual meeting, but it is usually held in late May.
An environmental/business impact analysis can be achieved “at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information,” the coalition's resolution said. It should analyze “the impacts on Exxon Mobil's oil and gas reserves and resources” if governments impose carbon restrictions.
New York State Common has $973.6 million invested in Exxon Mobil stock.
The resolution is available on the comptroller's website.
