Border to Coast Pensions Partnership has outlined its plans to vote against members of oil giant BP’s board at its annual general meeting (AGM)
In a statement released on Monday, the pool said it would vote against management on several agenda items at the AGM, which takes place on 17 April in London.
It follows BP’s announcement at the end of February that it has weakened its climate targets and transition plans and not offered shareholders an AGM vote on its new strategy.
The announcement detailed a $10bn (£7.6bn) annual increase in oil and gas investment, and a reduction of $5bn a year in planned investment into biogas, biofuels and electric vehicle charging.
In its statement, Border to Coast said it would vote against the re-election of four of BP’s 12 board directors, including: Helge Lund, chair of the board; Melody Meyer, chair of the sustainability committee; Tushar Morzaria, interim chair of the remuneration committee; and Dame Amanda Blanc, a senior independent director.
It will also vote against the approval of the company’s annual report and its remuneration report.
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The pool said: “This reflects our concern regarding the governance role of these committees in BP’s strategy reset, including the removal of transition measures from remuneration policy and the terms on which a new chief executive officer was appointed.”
Colin Baines, stewardship manager at Border to Coast, said the pool would call on BP to publish a comprehensive transition plan detailing how it would achieve its 2050 net-zero target, and put this plan to a vote at the 2026 AGM to address the concerns of shareholders.
He added: “We continue to be deeply concerned over the direction of BP and its backtracking on climate commitments, its failure to seek a new mandate from shareholders who approved its transition plan in 2022, and previous assurances we received from the chair that the board owned the strategy and that it would not change with a new CEO.
“Following the strategy reset, we find BP’s net zero targets and decarbonisation plans are simply not adequate.
“We are taking the unprecedented step of voting against BP on a raft of measures at its upcoming AGM due to its failure to put its strategy reset to a shareholder vote.”
Border to Coast Pensions Partnership also indicated that it would vote against the chairs of other oil and gas companies that fail to meet the first five indicators of the Climate Action 100+ net zero benchmark, which includes short, medium, and long-term emission reduction targets, and decarbonisation strategies.
The pool will also vote against the chair if a company has not developed a “strategic understanding of climate risks and opportunities” according to the Transition Pathway Initiative.
