For the sake of their business lines and the environment, influential investors are pressuring oil and gas companies to take climate action. For the oil business and its financiers, it was a quake.
In a critical vote at the end of May, shareholders of ExxonMobil, the world’s second-largest oil and gas corporation, chose three candidates from hedge fund Engine No. 1 to the company’s 12-member board of directors.
The fund owns barely 0.02 percent of ExxonMobil stock and has fought to hasten the company’s move away from harmful fossil fuels and toward sustainable energy. It thought that by doing so, it would be able to ensure Exxon’s long-term profitability.
“Shareholders have spoken and the message is clear. It’s time for board accountability,” said Anne Simpson of Californian pension fund CalPERS. “We need climate competent directors willing and able to drive the energy transition.”
CalPERs, the Californian Teachers’ Pension Fund CalSTR, and the New York State Common, the three largest pension funds in the United States, as well as Black Rock, the world’s largest asset manager and Exxon’s second-largest stakeholder, backed the effort. “The Exxon votes herald a new age in financial markets, with investors acting as owners,” Simpson added.
Companies that do not have a climate plan must change, according to CalSTR in a statement to DW. “Shareholders have the capacity to bring about change in even the most adamant corporations… to contribute to the long-term value of their investments.”
