Shareholders of
Exxon
Mobil and
Chevron
rejected measures asking the companies to improve their environmental reporting at the companies’ annual meetings on Wednesday.
There’s always been a high bar for environmental proposals at these meetings, given that activists are pitching climate plans to people who have chosen to invest in oil-and-gas companies. But on some measures this year’s votes appeared to be particularly weak. For instance, a proposal asking Exxon (ticker: XOM) and Chevron (CVX) to align their emissions goals with the Paris climate agreement failed by an even bigger margin this year than last.
“It’s incomprehensible that most investors still accept the U.S. super majors’ refusal to cut emissions this decade,” said Mark van Baal, the founder of shareholder group Follow This, which pushed for the resolution.
The Follow This climate resolution won 11% support at Exxon, down from 28% in 2022, and 10% support at Chevron, down from 33%, according to van Baal.
In a statement after the votes were tallied, Exxon said it’s excited to “deliver the energy and products society needs and lead industry in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
Chevron CEO Mike Wirth said in a statement that the company aims “to lead in lower carbon intensity oil, products and natural gas.”
Some other proposals, however, got enough support that environmental groups say they’re seeing momentum for their efforts. At Exxon, for instance, 36% of shareholders voted for a proposal asking the company to provide more detail about the reliability of its measurement of methane emissions. Methane is often emitted from oil wells, pipelines, and other energy infrastructure, and it’s a particularly potent source of greenhouse gases—as much as 87 times as potent as carbon dioxide in the first 20 years after it’s emitted, according to the International Energy Agency.
The proposal, brought by the Sisters of St. Francis Charitable Trust in Iowa, did not specify how the company should measure the methane, but advocates say that including more direct measurement is crucial, because previous methods have underestimated how much methane is being released. Chevron supported a similar resolution last year, and it passed by a wide margin. Exxon opposed this resolution, saying it already uses rigorous methods to measure methane and is also working to reduce it.
Dominic Watson, a manager with nonprofit group Environmental Defense Fund, which doesn’t own Exxon or Chevron stock, said in an interview that the 36% support “really is a strong vote given the context.”
“With the incredible headwinds we’re seeing in” environmental, social, and governance (ESG), said Watson, getting this much support for the proposal “sends an incredibly strong signal to the company that there are changes that need to be made in order to have high-quality reporting that investors can rely on for decision making.”
Write to Avi Salzman at avi.salzman@barrons.com
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