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Imperial Oil faces shareholder resolution on global warming on April 22
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Three institutional investors have filed a shareholder proposal with Imperial Oil asking the company to report on its financial liability related to greenhouse gas emissions. The proposal, filed by the Presbyterian Church in Canada, the Sisters of Saint Anne, and les Soeurs de Saint-Joseph de Saint-Hyacinthe, will be heard at the company’s annual meeting April 22. The resolution calls on the company to detail the potential financial liability associated with greenhouse gas emissions and its strategy to reduce this liability. The proposal includes a request for a cost-benefit analysis of “substantially reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions under a range of reasonable carbon pricing scenarios, with special reference to the possible role of investments in renewable energy.” The proposal is similar to resolutions filed with Petro-Canada by Ethical Funds Inc. and Real Assets Investment Management, and at IPSCO Inc. by Ethical Funds. A background paper on the resolution on the website of Kairos, the ecumenical social justice coalition of Canadian churches, states that Imperial has been particularly vocal against efforts to reduce global warming. “Through the dialogue that church representatives have had with a number of companies, Imperial Oil Ltd. has distinguished itself by consistently attempting to minimize the concerns raised and actively opposing the expressed views of shareholders regarding its policies and practices relating to climate change management,” states the Kairos backgrounder. “In particular, it both questions the science of climate change and rejected Canadian ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.” Imperial Oil Ltd. is Canada’s largest integrated petroleum company, and is 69% owned by ExxonMobil, the U.S. multinational that is the world’s largest oil company. Kairos points out that Imperial Oil is also influential with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), which led a strong campaign against ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. “Even though other member companies, such as Shell and Suncor, were much more supportive of ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, the Association reflected Imperial’s position. Both Imperial Oil and CAPP advised the federal government against ratifying the protocol.”
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