BP's (BP) shareholder Legal and General plans to vote against the re-election of BP Chairman Helge Lund at the annual meeting on April 17, Legal and General said in a statement Friday.
The shareholder said it is concerned about BP's recent decision to shift focus back to oil and gas instead of investing more in renewable energy.
Legal and General also said it is unhappy that BP will not allow shareholders to vote on its revised climate strategy at this year's annual meeting.
Helge Lund plans to step down as chair around 2026, but L&G wants BP to make this transition follow a "swifter timeframe," according to the statement.
Other investors, including Robeco and UK pension funds Nest and Border to Coast, also plan to oppose Lund's re-election, according to the Financial Times.
Separately, L&G supported Rio Tinto's (RIO) updated climate action plan at its April 3 annual general meeting, citing significant progress on reducing emissions, according to the statement.
L&G is also backing climate-focused resolutions in annual general meetings at Canadian banks, which include Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM), Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS), Royal Bank of Canada (RY), Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD) and Bank of Montreal (BMO), encouraging clearer disclosure and accountability on climate risks, the statement said.
"Since we introduced our reset strategy on 26 February, we have had an extensive program of engagement with shareholders, meeting with investors holding almost half our shares, approaching 3/4 of our institutional shareholders," a BP spokesperson said in an emailed statement to MT Newswires. "Throughout this we have received widespread support for our reset strategy and the changes we laid out. The consistent message also received is that our focus should be on delivery - executing the strategy and hitting the targets we set out."
Rio Tinto, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Bank of Nova Scotia, Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Bank of Montreal did not immediately respond to requests for comment from MT Newswires. France's Robeco along with UK's Nest and Border to Coast were also unavailable for an immediate response to requests.
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