Shell shareholders pushing the company to more aggressively address climate change made modest progress at the company's annual meeting Tuesday.
A shareholder proposal from climate advocacy group Follow This calling for Shell to align an existing 2030 emissions-reduction target to cover its Scope 3 emissions received 20.19% support, with 58.6% of shareholder votes recorded.
A 20% level of support is considered the minimum for boards to formally respond.
A management proposal to endorse the company's energy transition plans received 80.1% approval.
"I'm pleased the vast majority of our investors remain supportive of our strategy to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050," Shell CEO Wael Sawan said in a statement after the meeting. "We are focused on performance and discipline to achieve the levels of returns our shareholders expect across all our business areas, and to ensure the company is valued fairly."
Mr. Sawan said that the level of support for the two resolutions "requires us to explain what actions we intend to take to consult shareholders in order to understand the reasons behind the result, and report back within six months. We will meet this obligation by continuing to engage with shareholders on why we believe our strategy keeps us on the right path."
Some institutional shareholders, including Border to Coast Pensions Partnership, Leeds, England, a pool of local authority pension funds with £60 billion ($74.5 billion) in combined assets, had declared before the meeting they would vote against Mr. Sawan and Shell's energy transition plan.
"We are concerned about Shell's inadequate targets, recent signals from management and its failure to meet every indicator of the Climate Action 100+ Net Zero Benchmark for the alignment of capital expenditure with net zero," a Border to Coast spokeswoman said in an email.
Mr. Sawan's position as CEO was approved by 99.54% of shareholders, and he was reappointed.