US majors caught between duelling ESG agendas

US majors caught between duelling ESG agendas

New York, 23 May (Argus) — ExxonMobil and Chevron will face renewed calls to double down on climate commitments at shareholder meetings next week, just as a backlash against environmental, social and governance (ESG) pressures is building.

The pushback has been underpinned by such seemingly stalwart supporters as BlackRock, which said many shareholder proposals this year are too "prescriptive", and unexpectedly garnished by firebrands such as tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who saw his electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla penalised this week.

Resolutions this month urging Occidental Petroleum and ConocoPhillips to pursue more ambitious emissions-reductions plans in alignment with the Paris Agreement failed to gain much traction among shareholders. And a climate resolution at BP's annual meeting was backed by just 15pc of investors, down from the 21pc who supported a similar proposal last year.

The lack of support may reflect increasingly urgent concerns over energy security sparked by the war in Ukraine, which has pushed up fuel costs amid tight global supplies, and overshadowed climate issues for the time being. Investor criticism of the specific climate measures being promoted this year is growing.

"Our early assessment is that many of the proposals coming to a vote are more prescriptive and constraining on management than