EnergyExxon vows to add two new directors amid bitter proxy fight
Jennifer HillerSvea Herbst-bayliss
2 minute read
An Exxon gas station is seen in Houston, Texas, U.S., April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott/File Photo
Exxon Mobil on Monday said it would appoint two new directors with energy industry and climate experience within the next 12 months, a pledge made days before a shareholder contest over the oil companyâs climate stance and board makeup.
Shareholders on Wednesday will decide between s Exxon s 12 current directors and four candidates from hedge fund Engine No.1 who have gained support from investors and proxy advisory firms. Its nominees have oil and wind energy, tech and regulatory backgrounds.
BlackRock s climate views put it center stage in Exxon boardroom fight reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
BlackRock s climate views put it center stage in Exxon boardroom fight
By Jennifer Hiller and Ross Kerber
Reuters
HOUSTON/BOSTON (Reuters) - Top asset manager BlackRock could determine the outcome of a proxy fight between Exxon Mobil and a hedge fund seeking to reshape the oil giant s board and future direction.
Exxon s 12 directors are up for election on May 26, in a vote that offers a high profile test of BlackRock s approach to getting companies set a course to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius by 2050. Exxon stresses it is on a path to meet the Paris accord with a market-based approach.
Institutional Shareholder Services, the influential proxy adviser, is backing three dissident candidates to the board of ExxonMobil in the first proxy contest to push a major oil company to make a significant transition to clean energy.
The support of ISS is a coup for the new impact investment firm, Engine No. 1, which put up the slate that ISS endorsed. After Engine No. 1 first announced its proxy campaign in December, Exxon took steps to refresh its board, adding new board members, including hedge fund manager Jeff Ubben, who last year launched his own impact hedge fund.
But ISS, in a measured but ultimately scathing critique of the fossil fuel giant, concluded that the addition of the new directors wasn’t enough to meet the challenge. Despite Exxon’s recent recognition of climate change risk, “there are lingering questions about the extent of its commitment in the area,” the proxy advisor wrote in its report endorsing the three candidates, which
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