Shareholder climate resolution voting at major oil companies this proxy season was mixed between the U.S. and Europe, according to a recap issued Wednesday by Follow This. The organization represents 9,000 shareholders in oil and gas companies.
"Most investors have yet to decouple short-term profits and long-term risk," Mark van Baal, founder of Follow This, said in an emailed statement.
Follow This climate resolutions are aimed at pushing oil majors Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, Chevron and Exxon Mobil to align emissions reduction targets and practices with the Paris Agreement on climate change.
Shareholders in Europe increased or maintained pressure this year, with 17% support for climate resolutions at BP, 20% at Shell and 30% at TotalEnergies/
It was a different story in the U.S. where shareholder support was only 11% at Exxon Mobil and 10% at Chevron, Typically, shareholder support below 20% gets less attention from corporate boards.
Supporters of the proposals at Exxon Mobil and Chevron included Norges Bank Investment Management, the in-house manager of the Oslo-based Government Pension Fund Global, which has 14.44 trillion Norwegian kroner ($1.33 trillion) in assets. NBIM pushed the companies to set Scope 3 emissions targets.
In 2021, Follow This resolutions grew to roughly one-third of annual meeting votes, up from 2.7% in 2016. "Any investor contemplating the economic and environmental damage from carbon emissions needs to take a longer view of their fiduciary responsibility," Mr. van Baal said.
"In 2022, the oil empire struck back," he said, citing the war in Ukraine and surging oil prices. "Super profits for Big Oil and fears of growing energy insecurity lifted the defensive mood in those boardrooms."
