In an open letter sent on February 13th, Reclaim Finance asks a group of 50 large investors to radically change their climate-related engagement strategies with oil and gas companies. The non-governmental organization argues that their current engagement practices have failed to lead to the oil and gas industry aligning with a 1.5\u00b0C pathway. Large integrated oil and gas companies still have fossil fuel expansion plans, and they make limited investments in sustainable energy. Reclaim Finance calls on investors to escalate their engagement with these companies by voting against strategic routine resolutions, suspending new investments, and making public statements.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n The letter was sent to Amundi, BNP Paribas Asset Management, and other key investors engaging the sector through the Climate Action 100+ initiative.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div> Dear Madam or Sir,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We are writing to you and to other large asset managers to share our concerns regarding the lack of meaningful progress on climate issues from the oil and gas industry, and to call on you to<\/span> radically shift your engagement approach <\/span>with companies operating in this sector. We ask you to adopt a clear sanctioning approach given the failure of past engagements with the sector.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n The oil and gas sector has been the focus of collaborative and individual engagement initiatives by the investment community on climate issues for many years now. Since 2017, this dialogue has become more structured with the creation of the Climate Action 100+. At the same time, groups of investors have formed to file climate-related shareholder resolutions at annual general meetings.(<\/span>1)<\/span> Despite these efforts, the results achieved are derisory in the context of climate emergency, as acknowledged by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and the World Benchmarking Alliance which recently stated that \u201cthe oil and gas sector has made almost no progress towards the Paris Agreement goals since 2021\u201d. (<\/span>2)<\/span> While some companies have made certain commitments, these are mostly disclosure-oriented rather than action-oriented, and remain highly inadequate compared to the efforts expected to reduce emissions and limit global warming to 1.5\u00b0C.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n By going against climate-conscious investors\u2019 demands, the oil and gas sector shows a strong unwillingness to change that calls into question the effectiveness of current engagement practices. It must be noted that TotalEnergies\u2019 decision to increase its 2030 oil and gas production target was taken after an unprecedented level of 30.4% of the investors voted in favour of a climate-related shareholder resolution.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n O<\/span>il and gas companies\u2019 resistance to change should lead investors to completely overhaul their engagement practices with the industry. In particular, we believe that it\u2019s time for climate-minded investors to suspend new investments in oil and gas companies, including the purchase of bonds, until they have committed to stop developing new upstream and midstream oil and gas projects. (<\/span>11)<\/span> We call on you to fully use your leverage as shareholders, which includes making public statements, go beyond voting on climate-related resolutions and vote against strategic routines <\/span>votes<\/span>12<\/span> to unambiguously oppose and sanction these companies until<\/span> they satisfy your asks.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We look forward to your response and are open to discuss this with you at any time.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Best regards,<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Lucie Pinson<\/span><\/b>
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\nFounder and Executive Director of Reclaim Finance<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>