A shareholder campaign group has said pension funds who have invested in BP and Shell are exposed due to the oil majors’ inaction on the low-carbon transition.
In its latest report, ShareAction, a non-profit organisation, said the companies’ business models look increasingly vulnerable to the threats posed by low-cost renewables and climate change policy.
The group said the oil majors had done little to mitigate these threats and lamented their lack of investment in low-carbon (BP, 1.3% of capital expenditure to Shell’s 3% of annual capex).
ShareAction said investors should “escalate” engagement with senior management, pressing them to set out their positions on climate legislation and their plans for “reducing total lifecycle emissions”.
ShareAction chief executive Catherine Howarth said both companies looked “poorly prepared for the speed of technological and economic change now under way in the global energy market. Millions of pension savers are exposed to Shell and BP’s shares. These reports challenge the professional investors looking after our pension savings to manage the growing financial risks facing BP and Shell more actively in the coming year.”
A BP spokesman said: “We have no comment on the detail of this report, but we note that it acknowledges that we have provided the further information required by the 2015 AGM resolution.
“As we have said before, BP intends to play our part in meeting the dual challenge of shifting to a lower carbon future while providing reliable energy to a growing world population. Our strategy anticipates a range of scenarios to give us flexibility in our approach. We believe having a balanced portfolio and a dynamic investment strategy give us the resilience to meet the challenge. We will continue to maintain a dialogue with our investors on these issues.”
Shell declined to comment.
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