(Tuesday 20th May) Reacting to the results of the vote for a shareholder resolution asking Shell to justify the assumptions behind its liquefied natural gas (LNG) growth strategy at the company's annual general meeting today, Jackie Garton, Senior Corporate Climate Campaign Manager at ShareAction, said: "Today's vote sends a strong message that shareholders will not sit back as Shell doubles down on growing its liquified natural gas production despite its own stated climate commitments. Clearly, responsible investors want fossil fuel companies to do better on climate – not only to protect the resilience of their portfolios but to ensure we can all live in a safe and healthy world for generations to come.
"The level of support for this resolution from responsible investors is encouraging. Shell will now be required to issue a public response and clarify how it will act on shareholders’ concerns about the lack of transparency over its LNG strategy and the company’s commitment to the Paris Agreement.
"More than 100 individuals joined the institutional investors to make this shareholder resolution possible. At a time when the devastating effects of climate change are intensifying, they want to see fossil fuel companies take responsibility for their damaging impact before it's too late. It's worrying that instead of addressing their concerns, Shell repeatedly shifted the blame for their oil and gas production growth plans onto consumers during its annual general meeting."
Notes to editors
The full breakdown of voting results is as follows: 20.56% voting in favour of the resolution and 79.44% against the resolution, with 63% of shareholders having voted.
The resolution was filed by Brunel Pension Partnership, Greater Manchester Pension Fund and Merseyside Pension Fund, which have combined assets under management of US$86 billion. ShareAction supported the filing alongside the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) and more than 100 individual shareholders.
More information about the resolution can be found here.
