How oil divestment plans backfired at Exxon, Shell meetings
How oil divestment plans backfired at Exxon, Shell meetings
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Ask any of the student protesters who shut down college campuses across the U.S. this past month what their goals were and the biggest was usually for the divestment of the universities from any and all holdings associated with Israel. But as climate advocates found out to great distress in the past 10 days, divestment strategies don’t do much to stop a company, or country, from making changes.
Following years of divestment campaigns that saw several university and state and local pension funds divest from Big Oil, climate activism at the shareholder meetings of the largest companies has ground to a halt. Both Exxon XOM 0.00%↑ and Shell SHEL 0.00%↑ easily avoided climate measures at their meetings this past week and the week before, with massive shareholder majorities voting with management’s strategies in both cases.
A few big asset managers who stood against management were drowned out by the rest of the shareholders, in Exxon’s case by 95%. We have often made the case that by selling a company’s shares, an investor gives up the right to work with or prod management to make changes from the inside. Often, they end up selling to another investor that would rather just make a profit by producing more oil.
A clearer example of this in the results of the oil annual meetings, and the ongoing consolidation of the industry as seen by the $22.5 billion ConocoPhillips COP 0.00%↑ deal to buy Marathon MRO 0.00%↑ , we’ve yet to see. Mark Hulbert, our resident shareholder expert, delves into this a bit more in his column below and speculates that oil companies might be at the peak of their power right now and circling the wagons.
Perhaps. But for now, the lack of climate voices inside the shareholder base of these oil and gas majors is leading to very predictable results.
Don’t forget to contact me directly if you have suggestions or ideas at dcallaway@callawayclimateinsights.com.
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New evidence for the 'Green Paradox'
. . . . The term ‘green paradox’ is not new, but in the wake of the stunning consolidation in the oil and gas industry in the past year, fed by this week’s deal by ConocoPhillips to buy Marathon Oil for $22.5 billion, it’s worth another look, writes Mark Hulbert. While the surge in oil production since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent merger deals have fed speculation that climate activists are losing the global warming campaign, the green paradox states that, in fact, this is a last gasp attempt by Big Oil to wring as much value out of its products as possible before cheaper clean energy finally tips the scales. An interesting theory, to be sure. . . .
Thursday’s subscriber insights
Rivals rush in after Musk pulls the plug on charging team
. . . . People still aren’t quite sure why Elon Musk massacred his EV charging team last month. But other companies are not sitting around and pondering the move. Instead, they are moving to muscle in on Tesla’s territory. Read more here. . . .
What environmental impacts do EVs have?
. . . . Two just-released reports have different views on the impact of EVs. The first says the hunt for ingredients, such as copper, are likely to cause an environmental crisis. The other says that, on balance, the benefits of EVs far outweighs such downsides. We try to sort it out. Read more here. . . .
Editor’s picks: ‘Doomsday Glacier’; plus, climate investors are getting more ‘realistic’
Watch the video: Thwaites Glacier is an unusually broad and vast glacier. Known as the “Doomsday Glacier,” scientists say it is rapidly melting. Sridhar Anandakrishnan is a glaciologist and professor at Penn State University. In this video from Voice of America News, he explains the danger of global warming’s effect on Thwaites Glacier, with the increased melting from the glacier causing sea level rise across the globe.
Investors ‘cautious’ about decarbonizing their portfolio - survey
Investors are becoming more realistic about the long road to a low-carbon world, according to the 2024 Global Climate Investing Survey from international asset manager Robeco. The fourth annual survey of 300 investors shows wide regional differences in attitudes to climate investing, as Asia-Pacific powers ahead while interest in North America lags behind. The number of APAC investors for whom climate change is central to, or a significant part of, their investment policy was 79%, rising above Europe (76%) for the first time. “Investors are adopting a more focused and careful approach to decarbonizing their portfolios and transitioning to a low-carbon economy,” said Mark van der Kroft, Robeco’s chief investment officer. “As they tackle the complexities of the climate transition, there is more realism, careful deliberation and scrutiny over what is needed to embed sustainability. The survey also reveals growing regional disparities.”
Latest findings: New research, studies and projects
Tree planting can enhance post-fire forest recovery
Reforestation activities such as tree planting are an important tool to offset carbon emissions, restore forest ecosystem integrity, and maintain essential ecosystem services. Major financial investments and recent policy changes are expected to accelerate rates of tree planting throughout burned landscapes in the U.S., but the impacts of such activities have not been broadly examined, say the authors of Green is the New Black: Outcomes of Post-Fire Tree Planting Across the U.S. Interior West.In this research, the authors quantified the outcomes of recent (1987-2022) post-fire plantings in the western U.S. using remotely sensed estimates of forest cover change and in-situ survival records (69,745 seedlings) spanning 302 fire events. From the abstract: “Fire severity was positively associated with planted seedling survival, but negatively associated with forest regrowth rates. Tree planting can enhance post-fire forest recovery rates, though its effects are dependent on a range of environmental and operational factors. This information helps to inform realistic expectations of planting outcomes, an issue of global relevance as such projects expand to achieve restoration and climate mitigation goals.” Authors: Kyle C. Rodman, Paula J. Fornwalt, Zachary A. Holden, et al.
More of the latest research:
Words to live by . . . .
“We are sailing the same troubled waters, but in very different boats. Vulnerable countries that contribute the least to climate change suffer the most.” — Brianna Fruean, Samoan climate activist.