Huge win at Exxon's AGM!
- Details
- Published on Thursday, 08 June 2017 20:15
- Written by editor
A,
Wow. Score a big one for people and the planet!
In an absolutely unprecedented move, Exxon shareholders just voted overwhelmingly for a climate-friendly motion, even though Big Oil execs recommended against it. The entire executive board at Exxon opposed the resolution forcing the oil giant to assess the long-term impacts of climate change. but when it came time for the vote, 62% of shareholders voted against Exxon executives and for the climate.
And you helped make this happen.
Ahead of the big AGM vote, over 3,500 SumOfUs members contacted more than 200 separate pension funds, calling on these big investors to vote in favour of the shareholder resolution. Dozens of fund managers responded to us directly, saying that they received more messages from clients than they could reply to.
This historic move shows that we're on the brink of something huge -- the biggest polluters in the world are finally being forced to take responsibility for their mess. It’s no longer a world where CEOs and corporate executives can sit back and count their profits while the world burns.
And this is all due to the incredibly hard and courageous work of those who've been building an activist shareholder movement for years, including faith-based investors, progressive pension funds, organizations like Ceres, As You Sow and the Asset Owners Disclosure Project -- and you!
Trump’s rejection of the Paris Agreement shows us that our collective work keeping this planet safe has never been more important. Congratulations on this massive win. Let's keep making the future safer, together.
Thanks for using your pension funds to make a difference,
Liz, Michael, Lisa and the rest of the SumOfUs team
P.S. This win is huge, but we have to keep up the pressure on all fronts. If you haven't already, please join our campaign demanding that the CEOs on Trump's advisory council step down. There can be no collaborating with climate deniers anymore. The stakes are too high.
More information:
Exxon Shareholders Approve Climate Resolution: 62% Vote for Disclosure, Inside Climate News, May 31, 2017
Shareholders force ExxonMobil to come clean on cost of climate change, The Guardian, May 31, 2017
Original email from May 20th:
After the first US oil firm in history passed a climate change resolution against its own board’s advice, we think we’re ready to make climate history with Exxon.
If you have a pension, you are probably an Exxon shareholder. Let's ride this momentum and finally hold Big Oil to account.
A,
You may not know it, but there is some unbelievable climate momentum building in advance of Exxon’s AGM, just two weeks away. After decades of inaction in the face of runaway climate change, Exxon shareholders are finally preparing to do something about it.
Exxon’s AGM comes hot on the heels of climate history: just last week, investors forced Occidental Petroleum to report on how climate change affects its business—even though the board of directors opposed it. It is the first time in history that a US oil firm has passed a pro-environment resolution.
Wait, it gets better. The resolution passed because its largest shareholder, BlackRock, supported it—and BlackRock is also the second-biggest shareholder in Exxon. An almost identical motion will be going forward in two weeks at Exxon’s AGM.
The last piece of the puzzle? You. That’s right, you are probably an investor in Exxon.
If you live in the US, the UK, Canada or Australia, you’ve probably contributed to a mutual fund, superannuation fund, or pension fund - like Vanguard, Canada Pension Plan or AustralianSuper—that invests in Exxon. Or maybe you’ve paid into a 401(k) or other private pension.
You could be the key to making sure major investors vote for our proposal and finally hold big oil to account. Can you add your voice now?
Use our special tool to email your fund manager and make climate history.
If we get Exxon—of all corporations—to agree to take climate change seriously and file a report on how a two-degree increase in global temperatures will have a disastrous effect on both the climate and its bottom line, well, that changes everything. And the best part is that even if Exxon’s Board of Directors opposes the motion—and they will!—it doesn’t matter as long as a majority of shareholders support it.
This is one of the most effective ways to get a massive, multinational billion-dollar corporation to change its ways. In the past, we have gained historic support for a resolution calling on Canada’s biggest tar sands company to disclose its lobbying and political spending. We also forced mining giant Newmont to promise investors that a controversial mining project wouldn’t go ahead without community consent.
There is one group that Big Oil is always sure to listen to: its shareholders. And that gives anyone with a pension, a mutual fund, a 401(k) or superannuation fund enormous power. Let’s use it.
Click here to finally force Exxon to take climate change seriously.
Thanks for all that you do,
Liz, Michael, Lisa and the rest of the team at SumOfUs
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More information:
Occidental Holders Override Board in Approving Climate Proposal, Bloomberg, May 12, 2017
Climate proposal approved by US oil firm Occidental Petroleum despite opposition by its board, South China Morning Post, May 13, 2017
Text of Exxon 2 degree scenario analysis shareholder resolution, CERES website, May 2017
SumOfUs is a community of people from around the world committed to curbing the growing power of corporations. We want to buy from, work for and invest in companies that respect the environment, treat their workers well and respect democracy. And we’re not afraid to stand up to them when they don’t.
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