According to an Entrepreneurng report, Some of the largest pension funds in the United Kingdom are preparing to demand that BP toughen its pledges to decrease its emissions by 2030 at its annual shareholder meeting on Thursday.
A resolution put forth by climate activists at Follow This asks BP to link their carbon reduction objectives with the Paris Agreement. Nest, which represents approximately 11 million individual worker pensions, plans to support the proposal.
The Universities Superannuation Scheme and the Border to Coast Council Pensions Fund have both decided to vote in favor of the Follow This motion, adding their support to the campaign group’s.
In recent years, activist shareholders like Follow This have increased their pressure on oil firms. One of the oldest fund managers in the City of London, Legal & General Investment Management, supported a similar resolution proposed by Follow This at Shell’s AGM in 2021. Thirty percent of Shell’s shareholders approved of the resolution.
The founder of Follow This, Mark van Baal, claimed that BP’s current plans to cut emissions fall short since they rely on lowering the carbon intensity of the energy BP sells, even if absolute emissions are anticipated to continue increasing through the end of the decade.
All nations are required to reduce their emissions under the Paris Agreement in order to prevent a rise in global temperatures of more than 1.5C over levels experienced before industrialization by 2050. Carbon emissions must be reduced in the 2020s in order to stay on schedule.
In a letter to BP’s shareholders, Van Baal urged them to support their resolution, claiming that it was “the only way to compel BP to reduce emissions this decade.”
Because it is “unclear,” “simplistic,” and “disruptive,” the resolution, according to the BP board, should not be approved by shareholders. The “long-term value creation” of BP would be in jeopardy, the corporation continued.
The three pension funds are anticipated to vote against the re-election of BP Chairman Helge Lund in a separate climate revolt in opposition to BP’s earlier this year made decision to scale back its environmental commitments without shareholder approval. In order to support the funds, the local government pension plans LGPS Central and Brunel Pension Partnership want to vote against Lund’s re-election.
Bernard Looney, the chief executive of BP, originally outlined a “net zero carbon” plan with a target to reduce the company’s oil and gas production by 40% by the end of the decade compared to 2019. But in February, after announcing the biggest profits in BP’s 114-year history because to surging oil and gas prices, he revised the goal to 25% by 2030.
Reclaim Finance campaigners have also urged investors to vote against the pay awards given to Looney and the chief financial officer, Murray Auchincloss, because the compensation policy falls short of fully accounting for BP’s climate obligations. Reclaim Finance advocates for the financial sector to align with global climate goals.
In conclusion, after four employees died last year, Glass Lewis, one of the biggest proxy advisers, has advised shareholders to vote against Looney’s £10 million pay package. To reflect the safety violations, just £78,329 was subtracted.
