Norway’s sovereign wealth fund votes against Chevron and Exxonmobil

London
CNN
 — 

The world’s most significant investor in the stock industry desires ExxonMobil and Chevron to do far more to tackle the climate crisis.

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, which holds $1.four trillion in total assets, announced Friday that it would back calls for the US oil organizations to set far more aggressive emission reduction targets.

It mentioned it would help motions proposed by climate activist group Adhere to This at the companies’ annual shareholder meetings subsequent Wednesday. ExxonMobil and Chevron

(CVX) have urged shareholders to reject them.

Adhere to This has named on the organizations, along with European oil majors BP

(BP), Shell

(RDSA) and TotalEnergies

(TOT), to set far more ambitious targets for cutting their “scope 3” emissions by the finish of the decade. These emissions contain the greenhouse gases emitted when their merchandise, such as gasoline, jet fuel and organic gas, are utilized by prospects.

The group says the revised targets would far better align the organizations with the Paris climate agreement, which aims to limit worldwide warming to 1.five degrees Celsius.

Mark van Baal, the founder of Adhere to This, told CNN that the Norwegian fund had a “huge duty,” adding that it was surprising it hadn’t taken comparable action against European power firms at their shareholder meetings.

“Basically, they are saying to Shell, BP and Total: You do not have to lower your emissions this decade. We anticipate them to right this oversight subsequent year,” he mentioned.

The fund did not vote with activists against BP and Shell at their most current annual shareholder meetings, held final month and final week respectively.

Explaining that selection, a spokesperson told CNN Friday that BP and Shell have outlined how their “scope 3” ambitions align with the Paris agreement.

“While the targets of these 3 organizations differ, they all demonstrate sector top ambitions,” the spokesperson added.

The Norwegian fund also did not participate in a shareholder rebellion at TotalEnergies’ annual meeting in Paris on Friday, which saw 30% vote in favor of a climate resolution place forward by Adhere to This. The group mentioned the vote matched a revolt it led at Shell’s shareholder meeting in 2021.

ExxonMobil, which has not set “scope 3” targets, mentioned in a letter to shareholders final month that such targets would encourage oil and gas organizations to divest their assets, lowering the provide of merchandise “that society requires.”

“Make no error, we are committed to lowering greenhouse gas emissions,” the corporation mentioned.

Chevron aims to lower its carbon emissions by five% more than the subsequent 5 years from a 2016 baseline, a target that covers “scope 3” emissions, but has urged shareholders to reject activist proposals.

The proposal would “require shrinking Chevron’s enterprise,” the corporation mentioned in a letter to shareholders final month.

In an statement to CNN, Chevron mentioned that its “approach to scope three emissions enables it to sustain or develop its oil and gas enterprise in response to industry demand,” whilst “still addressing its intent to lower emission intensity.”

ExxonMobil did not promptly respond to CNN’s request for comment on the voting intentions of Norway’s wealth fund, which is financed by the country’s vast oil and gas revenues. It owns shares in far more than 9,200 organizations across 63 nations, with total equity holdings of $790 billion.

It holds a .86% stake in Chevron and a 1.13% stake in ExxonMobil, according to the most recent fund information.

In its statement Friday, the fund also mentioned it was calling for Chevron CEO Mike Wirth and ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods to resign as chairmen of the companies’ boards mainly because it believed the best roles should really be performed by two distinct folks.

“The board should really physical exercise objective judgment on corporate affairs and be in a position to make choices independently of management,” the fund mentioned on its web-site.