(New York) ExxonMobil shareholders will have the opportunity at their general meeting on Wednesday to show what they think about the strong way in which the American gas and oil giant has responded to recent protests linked to climate change .
The group, which shows no remorse in investing in the oil industry despite the impact on the climate, has in fact adopted a more combative posture than in previous years for this edition, which will take place remotely.
He launched proceedings against two groups of shareholders – the NGO Follow This and the activist investment company Arjuna Capital – who wanted to submit to security holders a resolution providing for a limitation of greenhouse gas emissions.
The two entities have given up but the giant is demanding reimbursement of legal costs from them.
This brutal response drew strong criticism from the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund and the California civil servants’ pension fund (Calpers), one of the largest in the United States.
A significant number of votes against ExxonMobil’s nominees for its board seats could illustrate shareholder resentment of the group’s tactics.
For Calpers, climate change represents “a serious threat to long-term investment returns” and ExxonMobil’s bellicose attitude could lead to “devastating” consequences for corporate governance.
“If ExxonMobil succeeds in silencing voices and upending the rules of shareholder democracy, what other issues will company leaders consider their preserve? Safety at work? Excessive executive remuneration? », Notes the pension fund.
100% against
He intends to vote against all twelve candidates for the mandate of administrator “to send the message that our voices will not be silenced”.
The roots of the controversy go back to December when Follow This and Arjuna called for a shareholder vote on a measure requiring ExxonMobil to accelerate the reduction of its greenhouse gas emissions.
This project established objectives and a timetable for reducing indirect emissions (Scope 3), that is to say including the entire chain from suppliers to consumers.
But, for the oil group, this proposal was identical to that rejected by nearly 90% of its shareholders in 2023.
Managing such resolutions is “costly and time-consuming,” the group argued in its lawsuit, asserting that the proposal “does not seek to improve ExxonMobil’s economic performance or create shareholder value.” “.
“The Defendants’ primary goal is to force ExxonMobil to change the nature of its core business or to go bankrupt in its entirety,” he continued.
Shortly after these lawsuits were launched in January in a Texas federal court, Arjuna and Follow This withdrew their proposal.
But their opponent has not signaled withdrawal on his side, and is still asking the federal judge to declare that this measure does not have to appear on the menu of resolutions submitted to a vote by shareholders.
Federal judge Mark Pittman agreed last week to halt proceedings against Follow This, ruling that the court did not have jurisdiction to rule on this Netherlands-based organization. But he allowed its continuation against Arjuna.
In a May 27 letter to ExxonMobil, the investment company rejected the accusations against it.
According to Natasha Lamb, a member of Arjuna’s management team, the latter’s commitment to climate change “is appropriate, and necessary, to ensure the success of its financial future.”
She pledged to no longer make any proposals related to climate change at ExxonMobil, also hoping that the group would “stop its lawsuits”.