Here’s a shareholder resolution Chevron will find hard to ignore.
At the big oil company’s annual meeting, held Wednesday in a virtual format, a majority of shares were voted in favor of a proposal that the company issue an annual report disclosing its lobbying expenditures on climate change and explaining how they align with the goals of the 2015 Paris climate agreement….
[T]he vote looks like a landmark in the so-called ESG movement–for “environmental, social and governance” investing.
“There is no area of investing that is growing faster than ESG,” says corporate governance consultant Nell Minow. Not only are ESG-oriented investment funds growing, but the concept has been embraced by such major investment figures as Larry Fink, CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest money management firm.
The Chevron resolution was submitted by BNP Paribas Asset Management, and supported by major institutional investors with sizable stakes in Chevron. Among them was BlackRock, whose 127.2 million shares made it the oil company’s second largest shareholder, after Vanguard, with a 6.7% stake.
