这个代理季,机构投资者在包括碳资产风亚博赞助欧冠险在内的气候变化问题上比以往任何时候都更努力地推动石油和天然气公司,行业巨头的业绩喜忧参半。
Shareholders have filed 16 carbon asset risk–related resolutions, which argue that oil companies should rein in spending on expensive and risky exploration projects — those in ultradeep water, the Arctic and Canada’s oil sands — because those reserves could become worthless in a low-carbon world or during periods of low oil prices, as we have now.
欧洲投资者在获得石油公司如英国BP和荷兰皇家公司荷兰壳牌公司方面取得了进展。disclose the amount of their stranded assets,其价值可能因环境管制而下降的能源储备。在美国,这场斗争更进一步。埃克森美孚(ExxonMobil)和雪佛龙公司(chevroncorp.)一直在反对一些开创性的提议,要求它们将资金返还给股东,而不是用于此类项目。
Contradictory rulings have been issued by the Securities and Exchange Commission, which provides guidance to public companies seeking to keep shareholder resolutions off annual ballots. In March the regulatory agency blocked the Exxon proposal from going to a vote after clearing a similar resolution for Chevron’s investors. The proposals, filed by Oakland, California–based nonprofit As You Sow and Arjuna Capital, the sustainable wealth management division of Marion, Massachusetts–based investment advisory firm Baldwin Brothers, were virtually identical, with the only difference being that the Chevron resolution asked for the money to be returned as dividends, whereas the Exxon proposal sought dividends and share buybacks.
这一问题将在5月27日雪佛龙的年会上由股东表决。
In response to亚博赞助欧冠’s inquiry, Chevron wrote, “We disclose information about our efforts to address climate change risks and incorporate these risks into our business planning activities.” The firm continued, “Our carbon cost analysis and investment decisions are based on a thorough assessment of ranges of future policy and economic growth outcomes.”
As You Sow总裁兼首席法律顾问丹妮尔•富格尔(daniellefugere)表示,这一披露尚未以向股东提交详细报告的形式公布。去年,该组织要求对搁浅资产实行透明度的决议遭到否决,此前雪佛龙曾与之抗争,而证交会的裁决对这家石油公司有利。她说:“他们的网站上有信息,但只是非常笼统,不能回答股东们提出的任何问题。”。
阿诸那资本(Arjuna Capital)和As You Sow,通过股东决议,确实在2014年成功获得了埃克森美孚(Exxon)的搁浅资产报告,但他们对结果几乎不满意。埃克森美孚的报告总结道,“我们相信,我们的油气储量现在或将来都不会‘搁浅’。”这就是为什么埃克森美孚和雪佛龙今年的决议比更普遍的透明要求走得更远,而是寻求投资者现金的回报。
沃尔登资产管理公司(Walden Asset Management)驻波士顿的ESG股东参与主管蒂姆•史密斯(Tim Smith)表示:“世界上的埃克森美孚公司基本上都在说,他们相信,从长期来看,石油和天然气的需求将是有意义的,他们将是最有前途的公司。”。“他们是说,他们不认为自己有被困资产的问题。”
此外,埃克森美孚2014年的报告没有具体说明在分析中使用了哪种全球气温上升情景,该公司高级经理谢娜·克利夫兰(Shanna Cleveland)表示Carbon Asset Risk Initiative at Ceres一家总部位于波士顿的非营利组织,专注于可持续发展问题。克利夫兰说,在受到压力后,埃克森美孚确实承认,它的一个设想可能与到2050年的一段时间内全球平均表面温度上升4.5摄氏度(8.1华氏度)相吻合。
A spike of that magnitude is widely considered catastrophic for the planet. Holding the increase to 2 degrees Celsius over the preindustrial average has long been considered the goal for avoiding dangerousclimate change, though now many scientists question even a 2-degrees-Celsius scenario.
克利夫兰说:“没有一家石油公司对他们的资产在2摄氏度的情况下如何公平进行过分析。”。
An Exxon spokesman told亚博赞助欧冠to read the annual reports on Exxon’s efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions and on distribution of reserves.
Meanwhile, the boards at BP, Shell and Norway’s Statoil have supported shareholder resolutions calling for increased disclosure on how climate change might affect their future business. Thanks in large part to an endorsement from the board, the resolution at BP garnered near-unanimous support, with 98 percent of the shareholder votes at the April 16 annual meeting cast in favor. Landslide votes are also expected at Shell and Statoil meetings, both on May 19.
“That’s a step forward,” says Vermont state treasurer Beth Pearce, whose office administers the investment strategies adopted by the Vermont Pension Investment Committee and was a co-signer of the BP and Exxon resolutions. “There are many more steps yet to come, but companies do transform themselves.” U.K. newspaper theGuardian, however, reported April 28 that the shareholder resolutions at BP, Shell and Statoil可能是为了表现效果而设计的.
The number of shareholder proposals on social and environmental issues has climbed steadily in recent years, with a big jump between 2013 and 2014, according to theProxy Preview 2015, an annual report by As You Sow; Washington nonprofit Sustainable Investments Institute; and Proxy Impact, a Bay Area proxy voting service for environmentally minded investors. This season, 76 climate-related proposals — demanding action or transparency on low-carbon strategies, greenhouse gas emissions, political spending and lobbying and climate risk — had been filed prior to the report’s March release. In 2014 the final tally for climate change-related proposals came to 73.
这是一个趋势,似乎准备继续下去。尽管有人认为资产剥离是实现真正变革的最佳或唯一方式,但相信“坐在桌边”策略的投资者似乎决心继续下去,尽管进展缓慢,结果往往令人失望。