The two largest US pension funds and a Norwegian manager are set to oppose the reappointment of Woodside’s chair, adding to mounting pressures over the firm’s climate strategy ahead of the AGM tomorrow.
Australian energy giant Woodside is bracing for a turbulent AGM, with major institutional investors pre-declaring their votes against the firm’s chair, according to reports in the Australian media.
CalPERS, which manages close to $US500 billion, CalSTRS ($US350 billion), and Norwegian manager Storebrand have confirmed their intention to vote against the reappointment of some of the firm’s leadership, according to a report in The Australian.
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CalSTRS will vote against the re-election of Ben Wyatt and the election of Anthony O’Neill, while CalPERS has also opposed the re-election of Wyatt, The Australian reports. According to the paper, the decision was not directly motivated by climate concerns. Net Zero Investor has approached both funds for comment.
In contrast, Storebrand’s decision was explicitly motivated by climate concerns. The manager said it would vote against Ann Pickard due to her role as chair of the committee responsible for climate risk oversight. Under Pickard’s supervision, the company has embarked on sustained fossil fuel production, committing, among other investments, $18 billion to an LNG project in the US which is expected to add 1.6 billion tonnes of CO₂ emissions over the next 40 years.
Last year, Woodside made headlines when a majority of 58% of investors opposed the firm’s climate transition plan. For this year’s AGM, scheduled to take place on 8 May in Australia, Woodside opted not to put the climate transition strategy to a vote. This decision prompted shareholder group the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) to call for a vote against all directors.
