Managing climate risk is essential to Border to Coast as a long-term investor representing the best interests of our 11 local government pension funds.
Critical to our ability to manage this risk is the reduction of portfolio emissions and we have adopted robust climate targets and policies to support this, including a rigorous stewardship approach to the oil and gas sector.
We vote against the Chair of the Board of oil and gas companies which fail to fully meet the first five indicators of the Climate Action 100+ net zero benchmark, which includes short, medium, and long-term emission reduction targets, and decarbonisation strategy.
We also vote against the Chair if the company is scored 3 or lower by the Transition Pathway Initiative, meaning they have not yet developed a strategic understanding of climate risks and opportunities or integrated this into business strategy and capital expenditure decisions.
Another voting policy is a presumption to support shareholder proposals that are aligned with the goals of the Paris climate agreement, taking a ‘comply or explain’ approach.
We will publicly pre-declare some of our votes against management at fossil fuel company AGMs as part of our formal engagement escalation policy.
BP
Following BP’s announcement in early 2025 that it has weakened its climate targets and transition plans and its failure to offer shareholders an AGM vote on its new strategy, we have decided to vote against management on several agenda items at this year’s AGM.
On 17 April, we will vote against the re-election of the Chair of the Board, Helge Lund, and three other directors, including the Chair of the Sustainability Committee, and members of the Nomination and Remuneration Committees. We will also vote against acceptance of the annual report and against approval of the remuneration report.
We are voting against the re-election of four of the 12 Board directors. In addition to the Chair of the Board, Helge Lund, we are voting against Melody Meyer, Chair of the Sustainability Committee, Tushar Morzaria, interim-Chair of the Remuneration Committee, and Dame Amanda Blanc, of the Nomination Committee. This reflects our concern regarding the governance role of these committees in BP’s strategy reset, including the removal of transition measures from remuneration policy and the terms on which a new CEO was appointed.
A large majority of shareholders supported BP’s transition plan at its 2022 AGM, which has since been weakened twice without renewing that shareholder mandate. BP has also been subject to CA100+ collaborative engagement but has not yet adopted adequate net zero targets and decarbonisation plans.
Before BP’s strategy reset, it did have a medium-term target that covered at least 95% of its Scope 1 and 2 emissions and its most relevant Scope 3 emissions, but it was not aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5C. BP also failed to meet CA100+ net zero benchmark indicators for its decarbonisation strategy. The company has moved further away from achieving these benchmarks since its strategy reset.
Colin Baines, Stewardship Manager, Border to Coast, said: “The resignation of BP Chair Helge Lund is a key development, and we have been leading calls for a vote against his re-election at the upcoming AGM. We continue to be deeply concerned over the direction of BP and its backtracking on climate commitments, its failure to seek a new mandate from shareholders who approved its transition plan in 2022, and previous assurances we received from the Chair that the Board owned the strategy and that it would not change with a new CEO. Following the strategy reset, we find BP’s net zero targets and decarbonisation plans are simply not adequate.
“We are taking the unprecedented step of voting against BP on a raft of measures at its upcoming AGM due to its failure to put its strategy reset to a shareholder vote. In addition to voting against the re-election of the Chair of the Board, we intend to vote against the Chair of the Sustainability Committee and members of the Nomination and Remuneration Committees, as well as against its annual report and remuneration report.”
“We call on BP to publish a comprehensive transition plan that details how it will achieve its 2050 net zero target post-2030 and put it to a vote at the 2026 AGM, to address the very real concerns of shareholders. We believe that long term value in BP is dependent upon a quality transition plan that aligns with pathways to net zero.”
This page will be updated throughout AGM season 2025 to reflect Border to Coast’s voting intentions.
Source