LONDON – Shareholders rebuked the top two U.S. oil companies on Wednesday for dragging their feet on fighting climate change, while a Dutch court ruled that Royal Dutch Shell needs to accelerate cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.
“Today was a stark warning for Big Oil,” said Bess Joffe, of the Church Commissioners for England, which manages the Church of England’s investment fund, with executives “being held to account by investors and lawmakers”.
Exxon Mobil lost at least two board seats to an activist hedge fund, shareholders at Chevron endorsed a call to further reduce its emissions and a court deemed Royal Dutch Shell’s emissions targets insufficient.
Investor support for climate concerns could force oil and gas companies to rethink how fast they pivot to other forms of energy.
BP, which recently pledged to consult with shareholders on its climate targets, could see the next test of the groundswell.
A Dutch court ordered Shell to slash its carbon dioxide emissions by 45 percent by 2030.
Shell said it would appeal, and analysts called the decision not the last word in the case.
(Reuters)
