In April 2017, CBIS led a meeting of BP executives and the Chair of the Board’s Remuneration Committee in March (with another follow up meeting in April 2017), and invited a coalition of investors from three countries, representing over $6 trillion AUM, to join us to:
- Discuss executive remuneration incentives for the transition to a lower-carbon business model,
- Request an analysis of the risks/opportunities under a 2° C and 1.5 ° C business environment,
- Encourage the company to add board members that had more “new economy” experience like technological disruption, venture capital, and innovation development, in order to be successful in a shift in business model, and
- Raise concerns about recent strategies, incentives and energy models that do not align with the Paris Agreement goals.
We joined an SRI presentation in December 2016 via video and asked executives to discuss carbon pricing, whether it is realistic for nations to hit a two degree emissions target, stemming from the Paris Agreement, and BP’s outlook on the issue. CBIS has also been focused on collaborating with EU and UK investors to press the company on executive remuneration incentives that are aligned with a two-degree transition pathway, and plan to dialogue more in the spring on our vote against the compensation plan if such issues are not addressed.
In April 2015, a resolution that CBIS co-filed at BP asking the company to outline steps it is taking in the transition to a low carbon economy received a near unanimous vote of 98% in favor, in addition to support from the company. The results demonstrate the strength of shareholder interest in assessing climate impact along with company performance.
On November 13, 2015 BP held an investor webinar to share its progress implementing the resolution. CBIS asked the company to set company-wide greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals. Without external targets, it is difficult for investors to understand how the company is reducing risk and preparing for a carbon-constrained future. We also encouraged the company to share more information on steps it is taking with respect to research and development of low carbon alternatives.