“The only way for shareholders to compel Shell to improve its [climate] targets,” the investors write.
MEDIA BRIEFING
On Thursday, the day of Shell’s quarterly results, investors managing € 3.5 tr. urge their peers to vote in favour of their climate resolution at the upcoming AGM om May 21 (resolution 23). In a unique investor briefing, signed by o.a. Amundi, AXA, London CIV, Brunel, Nest, they state that Shell is not Paris aligned and Shell will only improve its climate targets if their peers vote with them. Moreover, the asset managers and owners write, their peers’ votes will be a strong signal to the entire fossil fuel industry as this is the only climate resolution on the ballot of a supermajor.
Please find the briefing below. Some noteworthy sentences from the briefing are:
- “Shell’s ‘belief’ that the company has Paris-aligned targets is unfounded”
- “the only way for shareholders to compel Shell to improve its targets is to make sure the votes increase”
- “without increasing votes for climate resolutions, the fossil fuel sector as a whole will not heed their investors’ calls for emissions reductions.”
- Resolution is not against good governance, as Shell claims; “the resolution supports the company to align its existing emissions reduction targets (as set by the board) with the Paris Accord, leaving the strategy entirely up to the board”.
- “both fiduciary duty and climate science indicate that it is a fair ask to request Shell to align its medium-term emissions reduction targets with the Paris Climate Agreement”
Follow This adds: “These investors have stick out their neck by co-filing and they ask their peers to do the bare minimum: to vote in favour of their climate resolution,” says Mark van Baal, founder of Follow This. “If they vote against, Shell will use their votes as their consent for its backtracked climate targets and continue with fossil fuels for as long as possible.”
“This extraordinary step shows how dedicated these investors are to tackling the climate crisis at its source. This briefing of these leading investors puts the call for emissions reductions by energy companies front and centre for all institutional investors.”
“Large shareholders hold the key to tackling the climate crisis with their votes at shareholders’ meetings. Shell will only change if more shareholders vote for change. The resolution is designed to give Shell a shareholder mandate to drive the energy transition.”
In 2023, 20% of shareholders voted in favour of the Follow This climate resolution. In 2024, Shell recommends shareholder once again to vote against the climate resolution. “We expect responsible investors to side with their peers instead of the board of Shell.”
* not all co-filers were able to approve the text at this time, the 27 co-filers manage €3.9 tr.
