Activist Investor Pressures ExxonMobil to Create Innovative Board
Committee to Lead Climate Change Response and Evaluate Results; As You
Sow Joins Arjuna on Climate Board Committee Proposal at Chevron
DALLAS & SAN RAMON, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ExxonMobil and Chevron will square off at annual meetings today with
concerned investors who want to see greater action to address climate
change risk, and a tangible shift in the corporate culture behind the
companies’ intransigence. Exxon is telling its shareholders to vote
against a proxy resolution filed by Arjuna Capital, urging the oil giant
to create a new climate change board committee for the purpose of
ensuring that the “existential threats” of climate change are being
fully addressed. Chevron is opposing the same resolution, up for a vote
today, led by Arjuna and co-filed by As You Sow.
Arjuna Capital’s Climate Change Board Committee Exxon proposal and memo
to shareholders are available for download online at: https://arjuna-capital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Exxon-2019-Climate-Change-Committee.pdf
and https://arjuna-capital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/XOM_Memo_Climate-Change-Board-Committee_2019.pdf.
Arjuna Capital’s proposal, co-filed by As You Sow, at Chevron on the
Climate Change Board Committee is available online at: https://arjuna-capital.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Chevron-2019-Climate-Change-Committee-Proposal.pdf.
The ExxonMobil shareholder proposal states: “Shareholders request the
[ExxonMobil] Board of Directors charter a new Board Committee on Climate
Change to evaluate ExxonMobil’s strategic vision and responses to
climate change, and better inform Board decision making on climate
issues. The charter should explicitly require the committee to engage in
formal review and oversight of corporate strategy, above and beyond
matters of legal compliance, to assess the company’s responses to
climate related risks and opportunities, including the potential impacts
of climate change on business, strategy, financial planning, and the
environment.”
Natasha Lamb, managing partner at Arjuna Capital said: “It’s clear to
investors that Exxon and Chevron face an existential threat that will
not be assuaged by denial or simple lip service. It should be the
responsibility of the companies’ boards to pivot the businesses for
success in a low carbon economy. Instead, proactive climate
change strategy appears divergent to board priorities. Given the
severity of the climate crisis, dedicated committees with climate
expertise are far overdue at the oil majors. As investors, we
have been pressing on these issues every year, but there is no
accountability to change. This year’s proposal elevates the issue
to the board, so as to clarify the fiduciary responsibility of the board
members. This is a pragmatic approach that we think deserves broad
support from shareholders.”
Arjuna Capital’s Climate Change Board Committee proposal at ExxonMobil
and Chevron seeks to establish a unique group with delineated duties to
make sure that climate change is given adequate, rather than tangential,
focus. The envisioned climate change committee will create clear lines
of responsibility, in terms of who is setting policy on climate change.
It will strengthen the entire board, making it more climate-competent.
Lamb continued: “Investor capital is at substantial risk in the face
of climate change policy, competition from renewables, peak oil demand,
and unburnable fossil fuel reserves. Implementing our Proposal would
formalize board-level oversight of climate change strategy so our
company may remain successful in an increasingly decarbonizing economy.”
Arjuna Capital is urging ExxonMobil shareholders to vote in support of
“Proposal #7” at its annual shareholder meeting in Dallas for the
following reasons:
-
Exxon faces unprecedented disruption to its business model if it fails
to adequately plan for a low carbon transition. -
A board committee can provide the full board with the data needed to
make a strategic companywide pivot, encourage GHG reduction goals, and
redirect its business model and financial flows consistent with the
Paris Agreement. -
A formal board committee charter delineates responsibility and
clarifies a fiduciary duty of care to become well informed on climate
issues.
Arjuna Capital is an investment firm focused on sustainable and impact
investing. Lamb and Arjuna Capital have been recognized for using
shareholder resolutions to promote gender pay equity in the tech,
banking, and retail sectors. Natasha Lamb was named to the “Bloomberg
50” list of influencers who defined global business in 2017. For more
information, visit www.Arjuna-Capital.com.
Contacts
Patrick Mitchell, (703) 276-3266 or [email protected].
