Exxon Must Hold Shareholder Vote on Climate Change Resolutions, SEC Says

Separately, the Rockefeller Family Fund said it will divest its holdings in Exxon, calling its behavior on climate 'morally reprehensible.'

ExxonMobil must allow shareholders to vote on at least two prominent resolutions on climate change, the Securities and Exchange Commission ruled.

One measure calls on Exxon to take moral responsibility for climate change and adopt a policy to limit average global temperature increases.  A second would compel the oil giant to explain how its business would be affected by the worldwide commitment to slowing climate change.  They are among seven resolutions on global warming proposed for Exxon's May 25 annual meeting.

"The SEC has rejected Exxon's attempt to silence investors' concerns about growing financial risks associated with climate change trends, including escalating global demand for low-carbon energy," said Shanna Cleveland, a senior manager at Ceres, a Boston nonprofit that coordinates action on issues important to many of the nation's largest institutional investors.

Separately, the Rockefeller Family Fund said it will divest its holdings in Exxon, calling the company's behavior on climate change "morally reprehensible."

Activist stockholders are demanding more transparency about how much Exxon spends on organizations dedicated to obfuscating climate science and opposing emission regulations to slow climate change.  They want Exxon to pledge to comply with measures to hold global warming under the 2-degree Celsius limit set by the Paris climate accord, and they want the company to add climate-conscious board members.

The SEC issued a similar ruling that Chevron must allow a shareholder vote on a proposal requiring an analysis of the business implications of climate regulation, according to the Houston Chronicle.

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