A report in Responsible Investor (paid subscription required) — BP follows rival Shell in advising shareholders to back ‘Aiming for A’ climate resolution — credits a shareholder motion (‘Strategic Resilience for 2035 and Beyond’) for progress in climate action with major fossil fuel producers. United Church Funds was one of only a handful of US co-filers on both the BP and Shell resolutions. The Aiming for A investor coalition urges fossil fuel companies to achieve the highest level of assessment by the Carbon Disclosure Project.
The report quotes Edward Mason, Head of Responsible Investment for the Church [of England] Commissioners saying, “The positive way in which BP and Shell have responded to our shareholder resolutions is completely unprecedented.” Mr. Mason went on to reveal that the oil companies’ cooperation “represented a ‘step change in engagement’ between institutional shareholders and the oil and gas industry on the challenge of climate change.”
Helen Wildsmith, Head of Ethical & Responsible Investment for the Church of England’s $2.3B investment fund said, “BP’s response indicates that supportive but stretching shareholder resolutions can play a positive stewardship role,” according to the article in Responsible Investor.