The Church Commissioners for England is flexing its shareholder muscles by pushing energy giant ExxonMobil to disclose its plans to help keep global temperatures below 2-degrees Celsius.
The £7bn fund joined a group of institutional shareholders, which includes the New York State Common Retirement Fund, in demanding that the oil giant proves its commitment to reducing harmful emissions.
This follows a similar request by the group at 2016’s annual meeting. The motion received the support 38.2% of voting shareholders and the group has since held discussions on the matter with the world’s largest oil and gas company, which has a $335bn (£267.4bn) market cap.
The Church Commissioners for England’s head of responsible investment, Edward Mason, said the group has made another reasonable disclosure request.
“While our discussions have been positive, Exxon has not committed to provide the 2-degree scenario analysis investors expect from the oil and gas majors, and we have therefore again co-filed New York State’s resolution,” he added.
Exxon’s peers BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total have already agreed to disclose how they will be affected by lower greenhouse gas emissions.
New York State Common Retirement Fund trustee Thomas P. DiNapoli said investors are concerned that Exxon has not demonstrated its resilience in a low carbon future.
“We want to know what Exxon’s strategy is for continued profitability as governments around the world live up to their commitment to the Paris Agreement 2-degree scenario,” he added.
The Church was joined in the motion by AXA, HSBC, Amundi, Schroders, APG, CCLA, Hermes EOS, MN and BNP Paribas.
