ExxonMobil, Chevron investors vote for more action on climate change

Yahoo – AFP, John BIERS, May 26, 2021

Shareholders of ExxonMobil will decide whether to replace up to four board
members with supporters of renewable energy investment

Shareholders at ExxonMobil elected Wednesday at least two board members who pledged more aggressive action on climate change, while Chevron investors directed the oil giant to deepen emission cuts. 

The dual meetings involving the two biggest US oil giants showed clear evidence of how addressing climate change has moved from the environmental world into the investor mainstream. 

At ExxonMobil, two board nominees from activist group Engine No. 1 won enough votes to secure board seats. Shareholders also backed a proposal requiring a report on the oil giant's lobbying activities on climate change. 

At Chevron, a majority of investors backed an activist proposal calling on the company to reduce "scope 3" emissions associated with company operations. 

Earlier Wednesday, a Dutch court ordered oil giant Shell to slash its greenhouse gas emissions by a net of 45 percent by the end of 2030 following a challenge launched by environmental group Friends of the Earth. 

Engine No. 1's Gregory Goff and Kaisa Hietala secured enough votes to join ExxonMobil's board, along with Chief Executive Darren Woods and several other incumbent directors who were reelected, said ExxonMobil corporate secretary Stephen Littleton. 

Littleton said the vote was too close to call on whether the other two Engine No. 1 candidates would join the board instead of incumbent directors and that a final outcome may not be known "for some period of time." 

After the results were announced, Woods congratulated the Engine No. 1 candidates and pledged to work with them to meet shareholder expectations. The company had launched a lobbying offensive to re-elect its incumbent board, arguing it was taking meaningful action to address climate change. 

"We've heard from shareholders about their desire to catalyze further progress at ExxonMobil and we are well prepared to deliver," Woods said after the vote. 

'Change is coming' 

ExxonMobil had announced a series of steps on climate change since Engine No. 1 launched its campaign in late 2020, making Wednesday's election contest unpredictable. 

Engine No. 1's Charlie Penner expressed uncertainty about the vote during remarks at the outset of the meeting. 

"No matter what the outcome of this vote, change is coming," said Penner, who noted ExxonMobil's promises made since the insurgent campaign launched late last year that it "cannot easily walk away from." 

The oil company in January established a new "low carbon solutions" business to commercialize carbon capture technology; announced two new board members in March; and earlier this week pledged to appoint two more board members in the next 12 months, one with energy industry experience and one with climate experience. 

ExxonMobil has battled annual meeting fights on climate change for decades, usually prevailing on shareholder resolutions. 

But oil majors are under intensifying pressure to develop more aggressive policies on climate change and embrace renewable energy. 

European rivals such as BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total have undertaken renewable investments and pledged to attain net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. 

The International Energy Agency earlier this month said all future fossil fuel projects should be scrapped if the world is to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 and stand any chance of limiting warming to 1.5C. 

The report goes well beyond existing policies adopted by the United States and other governments. The Biden administration, for example, has endorsed renewable energy investment, but has not supported an immediate phase-out of new fossil fuel investment. 

Both ExxonMobil and Chevron have announced new environmental initiatives in recent months, while insisting on the need for continued investment in oil and gas development. 

Woods called the recent IEA analysis a "helpful" contribution, saying reducing emissions is a "complex problem and a challenging one" that will require new technology and government policies. 

Shares of ExxonMobil rose 0.7 percent to $58.65 in afternoon trading, while Chevron was flat to $103.85.

Related Article:

Shell ordered to slash CO2 emissions more quickly in landmark court case

Shell ordered to cut emissions in landmark Dutch climate case

Yahoo – AFP, Danny KEMP, May 26, 2021 

Environmentalists celebrate after The Hague court announced the landmark ruling

A Dutch court ordered oil giant Shell on Wednesday to slash its greenhouse gas emissions in a landmark victory for climate activists with implications for energy firms worldwide. 

Shell must reduce its carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030 as it is contributing to the "dire" effects of climate change, the district court in The Hague ruled. 

Campaigners hailed the "historic" verdict as the first time that a company had been made to align its policy with the 2015 Paris climate accords. 

Dubbed "the People versus Shell", the case was backed by seven environmental groups and more than 17,000 Dutch citizens. 

Judge Larisa Alwin said in the verdict that Anglo-Dutch multinational Shell has an "enormous CO2 emission for which it is responsible".

 Shell "is contributing to the dire consequences of climate change for the population" and must implement the decision "at once". 

Shell said it "fully expects to appeal today's disappointing court decision". 

"Urgent action is needed on climate change which is why we have accelerated our efforts to become a net-zero emissions energy company by 2050, in step with society," a Shell spokesman said in a statement. 

With energy firms around the world facing growing pressure over climate change, Shell set new targets in February to reduce its net carbon footprint compared to a 2016 baseline by 20 percent by 2030, 45 percent by 2035 and 100 percent by 2050. 

Shell must reduce its carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030, the Dutch court ruled

'Historical day' 

Dozens of campaigners hugged, clapped and shouted "climate justice" outside the court as the verdict was announced, an AFP reporter said. 

In a show of solidarity, a group of around 50 Dutch cyclists had also cycled from the north of the Netherlands to mark the judgment. 

"This is a historical day," said Donald Pols, director of the Dutch branch of Friends of the Earth, which originally brought the case. 

"It's the first time in history that the judge has decided that a large polluter, Royal Dutch Shell, should stop causing dangerous climate change," Pols told AFP outside the court. 

"This will have an enormous impact, not only on Shell itself, but on major polluters throughout the Netherlands and globally." 

The 2015 Paris accords committed all nations to cut carbon emissions to limit warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels and encouraged them to go down to 1.5 degrees. 

Greenpeace Netherlands interim chief Andy Palmen said it was a "historic victory for the climate and everyone facing the consequences of the climate crisis." 

"Shell cannot continue to violate human rights and put profit over people and the planet... We can hold multinational corporations worldwide accountable for the climate crisis," he said in a statement. 

The case is one of a series around the world in which citizens and campaigners frustrated with inaction on climate change have hauled governments and big polluters before the courts. 

The judge acknowledged that Shell had 'already tightened up its goals' but said 
its climate policy was not 'concrete'

'Full of reservations' 

Dozens of climate marchers handed in the lawsuit to Shell's headquarters in the Netherlands in The Hague in April 2019 in what organisers said was the first case of its kind. 

Shell had argued that it is making serious efforts to cut gas emissions, but that there is no legal basis for the case and that governments are responsible for meeting Paris targets. 

It said it was investing billions of dollars in low-carbon energy such as electric vehicle charging, hydrogen, renewables and biofuels. 

The judge acknowledged that Shell had "already tightened up its goals" but said its climate policy was "not concrete and is full of reservations." 

Shell's emissions were "greater than those of many countries" and the resulting climate change effects pose "serious risks to human rights, such as the right to life and an undisturbed family life," the judge said. 

She ordered Shell to make the emissions cut based on its 2019 levels. 

Campaigners have repeated the success of a case brought by the green group Urgenda in which the Dutch Supreme Court in 2019 ordered the state to slash emissions by at least 25 percent of 1990 levels by the end of 2020. 

The Netherlands, particularly vulnerable to climate change as a third of the country is below sea level, has pledged to reduce CO2 emissions by 49 percent by 2030. 

It is sixth biggest emitter of greenhouse gases per capita in the EU, according to the bloc's figures.

 Related Article:

Appeal court upholds Urgenda ruling – government must cut CO2 by 25%

Dutch government to appeal court ruling on emissions cuts

Dutch government ordered to cut carbon emissions in landmark ruling

Urgenda supporters celebrate at the Hague after court ruling requiring Dutch 

government to slash emissions. Photograph: Chantal Bekker/Urgenda