Skip to main content

ExxonMobil’s attempt to silence activist investors should be a warning to shareholders

The US oil company is off to court to try and block a green activist motion aimed at accelerating the company’s attempts to cut emissions

ExxonMobil is “committed to responsibly meeting the world’s energy needs”, according to the corporate blah blah, but it is clearly not committed to allowing its shareholders to express their own opinions on the “responsibly” bit of the boast. The US oil company is off to court in Texas to try to block a vote on a resolution tabled by Follow This, a Dutch green activist investor group that would like Exxon to move faster (a lot faster) on reducing emissions.

Exxon has an argument of sorts, one might say, in that Follow This tabled similar-sounding resolutions at the last two annual meetings and neither passed. Some 27.1% of shareholders aligned with the rebels in 2022 and 10.5% last year. Why go through the same process again, the company will argue. And, since last year’s meeting at Exxon contained 13 shareholder motions in total, haven’t US regulators allowed agendas to become overcrowded?

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/DvuY7Zz

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Details of F.B.I.’s Kavanaugh Inquiry Show Its Restricted Range

By MICHAEL D. SHEAR, SHERYL GAY STOLBERG, MAGGIE HABERMAN and MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT from NYT U.S. https://ift.tt/2QhwZyw

The Guardian view on Labour’s difficult year: denial of hard choices is no longer an option | Editorial

All the incentives in Westminster politics militate against confronting difficult issues, but a failing government may as well try honesty The formula for stable government, according to Britain’s constitution, is a big parliamentary majority and divided opposition. Sir Keir Starmer’s predicament proves that those conditions are not sufficient. The prime minister’s inability to convince voters that he has an agenda for national renewal, and the demoralising effect that has had on the Labour party, make a leadership challenge look plausible after local elections next May. Maybe sooner. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/JQljg0U