BP investors set to oppose move to scrap emissions targets
Investors in BP are lobbying for a vote against a resolution which would see the scrapping of emissions disclosure rules, following the energy giant's dismissal of a climate resolution
A coalition of major institutional investors, including Ethos Foundation, Mercy Investment Services, La Financière de l'Echiquier and West Yorkshire Pension Fund and campaign group Follow This are calling on fellow shareholders to oppose a resolution which would see emissions disclosure targets being scrapped.
"A vote against Resolution 23 is now the most relevant expression of disagreement with BP's current approach to governance and shareholders' rights," the investors wrote in an open letter to BP's directors seen by Net Zero Investor.
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BP is due to hold its first AGM with CEO Meg O'Neill on 23 April. Tensions between the energy giant and climate conscious investors have been heating up since the firm last year announced a major rollback on its clean energy programmes, leaving shareholders no time to challenge this move.
Ahead of this year's AGM two climate resolutions had been filed, one by ACCR, requesting greater capacity on capital expenditure for new oil and gas fields. Another resolution by Follow This requested BP to disclose a strategy for creating shareholder value under scenarios of declining oil and gas demand. However, BP refused to include the Follow This resolution in its notice of AGM, a move which is now being challenged in court.
Follow This said it will now support the ACCR resolution on capex transparency for new oil and gas projects and oppose the reappointment of BP's chair. However, with the dispute on the Follow This resolution not being resolved until the AGM has passed, investors are now focusing their efforts on resolution 23 but forward by BP's leadership, which proposes to scrap two earlier resolutions on climate disclosures.
The 2015 resolution required reporting on emissions management, IEA scenario resilience, low-carbon investment, climate-linked KPIs, and public policy positions. The 2019 resolution demanded Paris-aligned strategy disclosure, capex evaluation against Paris goals, and metrics on investment allocation, emissions targets, carbon intensity, and executive remuneration linkage. Both proposals had passed with respectively 98% and 99% of the vote at AGMs.
While it has historically been challenging to achieve majorities on climate resolutions, the threshold for success in this case is lower. If a quarter of investors oppose resolution 23, it will fail.
However, this in itself will be challenging, as it would require the support of other major BP investors. One of its largest investors, Eliot Capital Management, has been pushing for cost cuts and the sale of renewable energy assets. Other major shareholders include Norges Bank Investment Management, State Street, Vanguard and Blackrock, with the latter three having recently rolled back their support for climate resolutions.
In the short term, pressures on BP's leadership could be eased by the stark rise of global oil and gas prices, which have increased by nearly 40% since the last shareholder meeting. Consequently, BP's share price has risen by more than 30% year to date. However, long-term asset owners warn that the energy giant still faces a structural oversupply crisis of oil ang gas in the long run.
During last year's AGM, nearly a quarter of investors had opposed the reappointment of chair Helge Lund, climate campaigners are hopeful that a similar rebellion could be repeated.
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