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BP resolution on arctic drilling wins 11 per cent support
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A shareholder resolution asking for a report on the environmental impacts of a plan to drill in the Arctic National Refuge in Alaska received 11 per cent support at the BP annual meeting April 18. Robert Napier, Chief Executive of the World Wildlife Fund, made an impassioned speech at the BP annual meeting in favour of the resolution. He told BP it is time “to live up to brand,” referring to efforts by the British oil company to re-brand itself as a green oil company from “British Petroleum” to “beyond Petroleum.” Napier presented the shareholder resolution on behalf of an international coalition of investors, including Ethical Funds Inc. of Canada. The proposal called on BP to disclose how it analyses and minimizes the risk to its business from drilling and operating in environmentally or culturally sensitive areas. Of particular concern to WWF is BP's proposed exploitation of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska, an environmentally-sensitive arctic wilderness area. Napier said the 11 per cent vote in favour of the resolution was a positive development. Typically social and environmental shareholder resolutions receive much less support. "That's a significant vote in our favour, and the dialogue with BP will continue," he said. "This vote demonstrates clearly that BP's management is lacking blanket approval from shareholders to move forward in areas like the Alaskan coastal plain, Russia, Indonesia, and Colombia," said Shelley Alpern, Assistant Vice President of Trillium Asset Management who co-presented the resolution. In response, Peter Sutherland, Chairman of BP, told the meeting that his board was proud of the company's social and environmental record. BP would decide whether to work in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge "in the light of the economic, environmental and social risks, and in the light of the refuge's attractiveness within a global portfolio of opportunities." The day after the meeting, the US Senate voted 54 to 46 to defeat a proposal to open the pristine Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. For more information, visit the World Wildlife Fund.
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