Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, Oslo, a shareholder in U.S. oil producers Exxon Mobil and Chevron is requiring that the two companies set their medium-term carbon emission reduction targets.
The sovereign wealth fund, which has 15.22 trillion Norwegian kroner ($1.40 trillion) in assets, pre-declared its votes on its website ahead of the two annual general meetings.
Executives at Norges Bank Investment Management, which runs the assets of GPFG, will vote against a management proposal to reelect Darren W. Woods as Exxon Mobil’s CEO and chairman and Chevron’s management proposal to reelect Michael K. Wirth as CEO and chairman, arguing the roles should be split.
Norges Bank will also be supporting a shareholder proposal that would require the oil giants to set medium-term Scope 3 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets — meaning carbon emissions created by suppliers.
“We review all shareholder proposals individually. Whether we vote in favor of a proposal depends on a range of issues, including our assessment of how prescriptive the proposal is and what the company is already doing,” a Norges Bank spokeswoman said.
“We see a range of approaches to Scope 3 targets across the oil and gas sector. Exxon Mobil does not have any Scope 3 targets, and Chevron has one lacking ambition. We thereby voted for the shareholder proposal for these two companies,” she added.
The votes are in line with the resolutions supported by climate activist shareholder group Follow This.
The largest global oil producers have not set their Scope 3 emissions, which are 90% of their total emissions, Follow This said on its website.
The U.S. companies were singled out by Norges Bank due to non-specific targets compared to their European counterparts. The Norges Bank spokeswoman added: “TotalEnergies, BP and Shell all have Scope 3 targets, and the companies explain why they believe these are in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. While the targets of these three companies differ, they all demonstrate sector-leading ambition.”
Follow This said on its website, that even if European companies had set 2030 targets covering Scope 3 emissions their targets were not aligned with the Paris Agreement.
