Exxon Mobil and Chevron shareholders resolutely rejected climate change proposals at the annual meeting of the U.S. oil majors on Wednesday, scaling back last year’s support and at odds with the results of their European counterparts, where the climate change has been linked to global warming. The resolution received stronger support.
Only 11 percent of ExxonMobil shareholders backed a petition calling for the company to set emissions reduction targets consistent with those of the 2015 Paris climate agreement. A similar proposal by Chevron received less than 10 percent support.
The vote count highlighted differences in support for action on climate change by U.S. and European oil company shareholders. Last week, 20% of Shell shareholders voted against the company’s energy transition plan, arguing it would not do enough to reduce emissions. At BP, 17% of shareholders backed a resolution in April forcing the company to cut oil and gas output more quickly.
Unlike BP and Shell, the US oil majors have resisted setting emissions targets for consumers to use their products because that would effectively force the companies to start reducing oil and gas production. Both companies plan to increase production, with Chevron adding new oil and gas reserves last week with its $6.3 billion acquisition of U.S. shale oil producer PDC Energy.
In the US, investor support for climate action has lost momentum as Republicans attack asset managers’ voting practices. According to Dutch shareholder activist Follow This, last year the Paris alliance’s shareholder proposals received 28 percent support from Exxon and 33 percent from Chevron, which filed the petitions again this year.
“It’s incomprehensible that most investors still accept the refusal of the U.S. super giants to cut emissions this decade,” Follow This founder Mark van Baal said after the ExxonMobil and Chevron votes.
The vote follows a shift in public opinion over the past year, as Russia’s war in Ukraine drove up fuel prices and renewed emphasis on energy security while protecting the climate.
Last year, a majority of ExxonMobil shareholders supported a proposal that would have required the company to report on how a rapid global shift away from fossil fuels would affect its finances. BlackRock, one of the top Republican targets, voted for the proposal last year.
On Wednesday, ExxonMobil and Chevron faced 13 shareholder proposals related to carbon emissions or climate change. Only one petition has received more than 20% support, a threshold seen as a strong signal of opposition from investors. About 36% of shareholders support a proposal that would require Exxon to report more methane emissions.
Separately, a quarter of ExxonMobil shareholders backed a petition seeking information on how a slowdown in demand for plastics could affect the company’s bottom line.
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, said it would support the Follow This proposal ahead of the US oil major’s vote.
Exxon fired back at Van Baal, saying he had publicly stated that his shareholder proposal was designed to be a “Trojan horse” to force the company to unwind oil and gas investments.
Additional reporting by Derek Brower in New York