London-based oil major BP announced it will support a call from investor participants of the Climate Action 100+ initiative, for the company to broaden its corporate reporting to describe how its strategy is consistent with the goals of the Paris Agreement. Investors proposed a resolution to be put to shareholders at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) in May 2019.
The so-called ‘Paris Agreement on climate change’ was agreed in 2015, reflecting the goal of 197 states to keep global temperature rises to well under 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and as close as possible to 1.5°C.
Under the proposed resolution, BP will describe how its strategy is consistent with the Paris goals, as well as setting out a range of additional related reporting.
We are determined to advance the energy transition while also growing shareholder value. We believe our strategy is consistent with the Paris goals. The additional reporting specified in the resolution will build on BP’s history of progressive action in this area,
…Helge Lund, BP’s chairman, said.
In 2017, the company set out a strategy designed to grow shareholder value under a range of scenarios while also helping to meet the dual challenge of providing more energy with fewer emissions.
Last year, BP introduced the ‘reduce-improve-create’ framework, through which it intends to deliver its low carbon ambitions, including clear near-term targets for emissions from operations.
If the resolution is approved at the AGM, BP will introduce these changes into its reporting for 2019 onwards. BP and institutional investors supporting Climate Action 100+ will continue their dialogue and revisit the resolution every three to five years, to allow the company and its shareholders to take account of the experience gained and changes in circumstances.
Separately, BP also announced that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions have now been included as a factor in the reward of 36,000 employees across the Group and around the world, including executive directors.
In 2018, BP introduced a target to achieve 3.5 million tonnes of sustainable GHG emissions reductions in its operations worldwide by 2025.
Progress towards this target has now been incorporated into the assessment of the Group’s performance that is a factor in determining annual bonuses for BP staff worldwide. This will apply to the assessment of BP’s performance in 2019.
Climate Action 100+ is an initiative representing more than 300 investors with over $32 trillion in assets under management, including some of BP’s largest investors.
