UK asset managers U-turn on climate at oil firms’ AGMs 

21st July, 2023

Some of the biggest UK asset managers have withdrawn their support for a shareholder resolution to cut carbon emissions.

UK AMs including Legal & General, Schroders and abrdn have withdrawn their climate demands from US oil majors for 2023, according to shareholder activist group Follow This.

In a statement, the group detailed the AMs that released ExxonMobil and Chevron from taking climate action by voting against climate resolutions in 2023 after voting for the same resolutions in 2022.

The resolutions are put forward by Follow This at AGMs every year, calling for big oil companies to align their climate strategy with the targets set by the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5°C. To reach that goal, global emissions must fall by around 45% by 2030.

The group criticized the AMs for sacrificing climate action in favor of “short term profits” following huge excess profits for oil and gas companies resulting from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The group argued that this was the perfect time to invest profits into cutting carbon emissions.

Mark van Baal, founder of Follow This, said: “This is a false dilemma. Shareholders can enjoy dividends from oil and gas while oil majors invest these profits in renewables to drive down emissions at the same time. Taking short-term fossil fuel profits and addressing long-term climate risks are not mutually exclusive.”

However, Follow This did praise HSBC Asset Management for being the only UK AM to vote for its climate resolutions at the AGMs of all the major oil companies, including Shell and BP.

Mark van Baal added: “HSBC is the only true steward of the global economy. Their peers enable most oil majors to continue to cause climate breakdown.”

There was disappointment for climate activists at Shell’s AGM in May when the majority of Shell shareholders vote against a resolution to reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.