Exxon And Chevron Shareholders Dismiss Climate Resolutions

Overwhelming majorities of shareholders of ExxonMobil and Chevron rebuffed all climate-related proposals and resolutions at the annual general meetings of the two U.S. supermajors on Wednesday.

The shareholder support for climate risk disclosures and for a stronger commitment to cut emissions was lower this year than at last year’s AGMs of both oil and gas giants.  

At Exxon, shareholders rejected all climate-related resolutions, some with an overwhelming majority, the preliminary proxy voting results showed.

Just 1.6% of shareholders voted in favor of establishing a new board committee on decarbonization risk, and only 5.2% supported a proposal for an additional carbon capture and storage and emissions report.

The proposal to establish a Scope 3 emissions target and reduce hydrocarbon sales was rejected with 89.5% votes against and 10.5% votes in favor. Proposals for an Energy Transition Social Impact Report and for GHG Reporting on Adjusted Basis were also rejected with more than 80% votes against those resolutions.

At Chevron, 90.4% of the votes cast were voted against the proposal to set a medium-term Scope 3 GHG emissions reduction target, according to the preliminary voting results.

In addition, 98.4% of the votes cast voted against the proposal to establish a Board committee on decarbonization risk, while 81.4% of the votes cast voted against the proposal to report on worker and community impact from facility closures and energy transitions.       

Ahead of the meetings, Chevron and Exxon’s boards had said in the proxy statements that the world would need oil and gas in the energy transition.

“In our view, this proposal reflects the proponent’s underlying objective to reduce the supply of oil and natural gas at a time in the energy transition when there is no viable alternative at scale. It is overly prescriptive and incorrectly applies a metric that is intended to measure society’s progress in reducing emissions to an individual company,” Exxon said.

Chevron, for its part, said, “The journey to a lower carbon future will still require oil and gas as part of the energy mix in nearly all scenarios, particularly in sectors with no effective substitutes, such as air travel, heavy duty transportation, and industrial activities, all of which are contributors to Scope 3 emissions.”  

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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