The position of Richard Goyder, chair of the energy giant Woodside, has come under further pressure as proxy adviser CGI Glass Lewis has told its investor clients to vote against his reappointment.
CGI Glass Lewis is the first proxy adviser to release its recommendations for the upcoming Woodside AGM on 24 April. The decision follows a sustained investor campaign around Woodside’s climate policies.
In 2022, the firm’s Climate Plan was rejected by nearly half of all shareholders. In 2024, activist shareholders are criticising that the firm’s Scope 1 and 2 emission reduction plans are not Paris aligned and that it continues to invest more in new oil and gas extraction.
Among others, Woodside’s development of an oil and gas plant in the Western Australian Burrup Hub which could emit double the greenhouse gas emissions as all other new Australian fossil fuel projects combined, according to Greenpeace.
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This year, both the Australian superannuation fund HESTA and the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) have put pressure on Woodside to overhaul its leadership. HESTA has called on the company to take on new directors who are better equipped at managing climate challenges while ACCR has campaigned against the reappointment of Woodside chair Goyder.
It is not unusual for CGI to advise against the reappointment of directors. Its voting policy guideline for the Australian market states that it believes shareholders should hold directors accountable for management and policy decisions through the election of directors. ”We will recommend shareholders vote against the re-election of one or more members of the board if we consider they have not handled key issues effectively” CGI Glass Lewis states.
However, the decision to oppose a reappointment on climate grounds was unusual, according to Brynn O’Brien, executive director at the ACCR: “It is a world first for an incumbent chair of a major oil and gas company to face the threat of being held personally accountable for company climate failings.
“We are unsurprised that CGI Glass Lewis has also recommended a vote against Woodside’s climate plan. Despite four years of persistent investor feedback Woodside has once again failed to bring anything of substance to the table” she added.
Investors put pressure on Woodside Energy over climate concerns
