Aktionæraktivister, der presser Exxon om forslag til klimaændringer, støtter opfordringerne til at vælge en uafhængig bestyrelsesformand. Oliegiganten øger bestræbelserne på at holde klimaforslag fra afstemning på generalforsamling, skriver Reuters.
Fra Reuters hedder det:
New York state’s pension fund, Church Commissioners for England, and Legal & General Investment Management, which all battled Exxon over global warming and lobbying disclosures have this year taken up a call to split the chief executive officer and chairman roles, expecting a better reception from an outsider.
“The company has been a laggard on financial performance, climate risk management and lobbying disclosure for quite some time now,” said Thomas DiNapoli, New York state comptroller and head of the state’s biggest pension fund. “Its peers in Europe, many of whom have independent board chairs, are outperforming Exxon on all these,” he said.
California Public Employees Retirement System, which holds 9.6 million Exxon shares, just behind New York’s 10.2 million shares, last week came out in favor of splitting the two roles. Proxy adviser Glass, Lewis & Co separately called for splitting the two roles.
On Tuesday, Institutional Shareholder Services urged holders to vote “against” creating an independent chairman, reversing its stance from a year ago. Exxon’s naming of a lead director able to meet with shareholders changed its view, ISS wrote.
Still, Exxon management is under scrutiny after reporting the first loss in three decades. Under Chairman and CEO Darren Woods, Exxon spent heavily in the last three years for new oil and natural gas supplies, a move that has so far backfired as prices collapsed.
Exxon’s broad rejection of climate proposals, challenging sponsors and rebuffing proposals as micromanaging or unneeded, has accelerated under Woods. This year, Exxon challenged and blocked six climate resolution from appearing at its May 27 shareholder meeting.
