Norway’s sovereign wealth fund votes against Chevron and Exxonmobil

London
CNN
 — 

The world’s most significant investor in the stock market place desires ExxonMobil and Chevron to do much 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 firms to set much more aggressive emission reduction targets.

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

(CVX) have urged shareholders to reject them.

Comply with This has referred to as on the firms, along with European oil majors BP

(BP), Shell

(RDSA) and TotalEnergies

(TOT), to set much more ambitious targets for cutting their “scope 3” emissions by the finish of the decade. These emissions include things like the greenhouse gases emitted when their goods, such as gasoline, jet fuel and all-natural gas, are made use of by consumers.

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

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

“Basically, they are saying to Shell, BP and Total: You do not have to minimize your emissions this decade. We count on them to appropriate this oversight subsequent year,” he stated.

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

“While the targets of these 3 firms differ, they all demonstrate sector major 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 Comply with This. The group stated the vote matched a revolt it led at Shell’s shareholder meeting in 2021.

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

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

Chevron aims to minimize 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 business enterprise,” the business stated in a letter to shareholders final month.

In an statement to CNN, Chevron stated that its “approach to scope three emissions enables it to sustain or develop its oil and gas business enterprise in response to market place demand,” though “still addressing its intent to minimize emission intensity.”

ExxonMobil did not quickly 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 much more than 9,200 firms 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 newest fund information.

In its statement Friday, the fund also stated it was calling for Chevron CEO Mike Wirth and ExxonMobil CEO Darren Woods to resign as chairmen of the companies’ boards simply because it believed the major roles ought to be performed by two distinct men and women.

“The board ought to physical exercise objective judgment on corporate affairs and be capable to make choices independently of management,” the fund stated on its web site.