This AGM season, FairPensions co-ordinated two shareholder resolutions, asking BP and Shell to publish details of the environmental, social and financial risks involved in the tar sands developments. Thanks to a widespread online grassroots mobilisation campaign, the recent Shell AGM saw 1 in 10 shareholders refusing to heed the company’s recommendation to vote against the resolution, just weeks investors controlling £10 billion in BP also refused to back management on tar sands. These results come despite a massive charm offensive by both companies’ “investor relations” teams and are a big achievement, which a number of financial analysts have said will send a strong signal to Shell and BP.
The campaign has had an impact at all levels of the investment chain and has been a demonstration in investor democracy. The grassroots mobilisation efforts of FairPensions and our NGO partners prompted over 6,000 people to contact their pension funds and other large BP and Shell investors to express their concerns about tar sands. This was made possible by the wide online campaign, spread through blogs (such as Solve Climate, TreeHugger, Ethical Consumer & 100 months), Facebook and Twitter. Thom Yorke (Radiohead) gave his outraged support, along with MPs from across the main British political parties and major US, European and Australian pension funds.
Money managers (some of whom said they’d never seen this level of public interest before) were forced to sit up and take notice of the views of the people on whose behalf they invest billions of pounds. This unprecedented experiment in shareholder power was a timely effort to ensure that, in the wake of the financial crisis, the relationship between the money managers and the major companies receives the scrutiny it deserves.
Crucially, the tar sands resolutions have brought new information to light, which will be examined by oil and gas analysts and environmentalist activists in the months ahead. BP can expect to come under fire for its reliance on an energy demand scenario that assumes no government action on climate change, entailing a potential global temperature increase of up to 6°C - catastrophic for both people and the planet. Investors in Shell are also keen to understand how pursuing tar sands projects can be reconciled with Shell’s stated preference for a managed transition to a stable, lower carbon economy.
The tar sands campaign has laid the groundwork for pension fund members to really put pressure on their funds, not only on tar sands but also on other environmental, social and governance issues. We will continue to work to support people in making their voices heard and we hope you’ll join us in asking your readers to keep up the pressure on pension funds to be responsible investors – find out how at fairpensions.org.uk/getinvolved.
The campaign has had an impact at all levels of the investment chain and has been a demonstration in investor democracy. The grassroots mobilisation efforts of FairPensions and our NGO partners prompted over 6,000 people to contact their pension funds and other large BP and Shell investors to express their concerns about tar sands. This was made possible by the wide online campaign, spread through blogs (such as Solve Climate, TreeHugger, Ethical Consumer & 100 months), Facebook and Twitter. Thom Yorke (Radiohead) gave his outraged support, along with MPs from across the main British political parties and major US, European and Australian pension funds.
Money managers (some of whom said they’d never seen this level of public interest before) were forced to sit up and take notice of the views of the people on whose behalf they invest billions of pounds. This unprecedented experiment in shareholder power was a timely effort to ensure that, in the wake of the financial crisis, the relationship between the money managers and the major companies receives the scrutiny it deserves.
Crucially, the tar sands resolutions have brought new information to light, which will be examined by oil and gas analysts and environmentalist activists in the months ahead. BP can expect to come under fire for its reliance on an energy demand scenario that assumes no government action on climate change, entailing a potential global temperature increase of up to 6°C - catastrophic for both people and the planet. Investors in Shell are also keen to understand how pursuing tar sands projects can be reconciled with Shell’s stated preference for a managed transition to a stable, lower carbon economy.
The tar sands campaign has laid the groundwork for pension fund members to really put pressure on their funds, not only on tar sands but also on other environmental, social and governance issues. We will continue to work to support people in making their voices heard and we hope you’ll join us in asking your readers to keep up the pressure on pension funds to be responsible investors – find out how at fairpensions.org.uk/getinvolved.
