We\u2019ve been at the heart of the \u201d\u02dcAiming for A\u2019 engagement initiative, which successfully filed shareholder resolutions at the BP and Shell AGMs last year. These companies were keen to work with us and our partners, and recommended that shareholders approve the resolutions. The companies are now legally required to step up their reporting of their strategic response to the challenges \u201d\u201c and opportunities \u201d\u201c posed to their businesses by climate change. This was an excellent example of what investors and companies can achieve when they work together. On the back of similar engagement, Aiming for A has filed more resolutions in the UK mining sector for this year\u2019s AGMs which have been received by the companies in the same spirit.<\/p>\n
Sadly, not all companies are responding constructively to the urgent need to mitigate climate change. We\u2019ve been working with the New York State pension fund in the US to file a resolution at ExxonMobil in the United States. Rather than working with us to provide the reporting that institutional investors require, Exxon have gone to the US regulator \u201d\u201c the Securities and Exchange Commission \u201d\u201c to try to get the resolution struck off so that shareholders do not get the opportunity vote on it at Exxon\u2019s AGM later this year. This week New York State have written to the SEC to ask them to deny this request, and to make sure that shareholders can indicate to Exxon\u2019s board their desire for fuller reporting on the implications of climate change policy.<\/p>\n
We are extremely disappointed that even after the Paris climate change agreement ExxonMobil has contested the relevance of the resolution we have co-filed.<\/p>\n