Big Oil gets investor reprieve as energy worries trump climate concerns
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Major oil companies have handily defeated several high-profile climate resolutions brought by shareholder activists in the current run of annual general meetings.
Investors' more supportive stance coincides with a surge in energy prices in the wake of
"It might be that Big Oil has convinced some investors the energy crisis overrides the climate crisis," said Dutch environmental activist Mark van Baal of Follow This, an organization that filed a number of the resolutions defeated at recent AGMs, referring to the impact of the conflict in
Last year, companies faced an upsurge of shareholder support for resolutions and votes on environmental and social issues. ExxonMobil Corp, for example, had three new directors voted on to the
But that was then.
Only 15% of shareholder votes cast at BP's annual meeting on
Also, 17% of investors backed a call for emissions-reduction targets at Occidental Petroleum Corp (OXY) at its
At ConocoPhillips (COP), 58% of votes cast last year backed a push to set emissions-reduction targets. On
Shareholder meetings at Exxon, Chevron (CVX) and Shell are set for later this month.
Analysts said investors' shift away from environmental priorities partly reflects concerns as the war in
Geopolitics has "provided a powerful plausible excuse to procrastinate instead of committing to vital climate action," said
"That gave, maybe, some investors more comfort" to vote with management, McSherry said. Neuberger declined to discuss most of its votes in detail.
Occidental had argued that it already set appropriate targets. A representative of the
A ConocoPhillips (COP) spokesperson said the vote at its AGM supported its view that the shareholder proposal for emissions was "not the right solution for an E&P (exploration and production) company with a transition-oriented portfolio and production."
A representative of
BP did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
BLACKROCK PULLBACK
A likely marketwide driver has been top asset manager BlackRock Inc (BLK), which this week said it would support fewer such resolutions on topics like climate change because many were too prescriptive.
The change of mood was also mirrored across a series of similar votes at leading
"We're finding an equilibrium here in terms of what investors are willing to support. It's a healthy process," Logan said.
Some environmental resolutions at shareholder meetings still get strong support. At Costco Wholesale Corp's (COST) AGM on
In
Republicans in
"It might be the case that the big (asset) managers have their eye on who's going to be elected in the fall and they don't want to be in the crosshairs" of Republicans likely to win, Welsh said.
(Reporting by