ExxonMobil Faces Major Shareholder Challenge to Explain its Increasingly Isolated Opposition to Global Warming Evidence, Failure to Address Risks
11 May 2005Yahoo News / Christian Brothers Investment Services, NYC
ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM - News), the biggest remaining corporation to continue to publicly reject the evidence of global warming, is facing a major new challenge to explain the scientific basis of its ongoing denial of the broad scientific consensus that the burning of fossil fuels contributes to global climate change.
ExxonMobil shareholders will vote on May 25, 2005 on a proxy resolution filed by Christian Brothers Investment Services, Inc. (CBIS) asking that " ... by the 2006 annual shareholder meeting, the (XOM) Board of Directors make available to shareholders the research data relevant to ExxonMobil's stated position on the science of climate change, omitting proprietary information and at reasonable cost."
A solid 8.8 percent of ExxonMobil shareholders -- representing an estimated 475 million shares (then worth nearly $21 billion) -- lent their support on May 24, 2004 to what was then a new proxy resolution urging ExxonMobil to stop ignoring the risks of global warming. The initial support level for the first-year resolution was solid in that SEC rules require a vote of only 3 percent for a first-year resolution to be reintroduced in a second year, as CBIS has elected to do.
Pointing to the well-established consensus about global warming, the reintroduced 2005 CBIS resolution states: "The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the international body of experts charged with climate change research, stated in its 2001 Third Assessment Report: 'There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming observed over the last 50 years is attributable to human activity ... ' The study describes climate impacts, such as higher global temperatures and increased precipitation, as 'very likely.' A 2004 report by the Bush Administration's Climate Change Science Program states that increases in human-derived GHG emissions are the only likely explanation for global warming over the past three decades."
CBIS Director of Social Responsibility John Wilson said: "Global warming is not something that ExxonMobil can simply choose to ignore. A worldwide movement towards greater regulation to mitigate climate change has resulted from the IPCC reports. Consistent with its own position, ExxonMobil opposes most such regulation. Yet, it has not released primary research or an analysis of data supporting its conclusions. The lack of such information prevents shareholders, policymakers, and the public from being able to make decisions based on the facts the company claims to have. This information is important because our company's ongoing denial of the reality of climate change raises concerns that ExxonMobil is unprepared for major shifts in the overall energy markets that we believe may be coming."
Specifically, the CBIS resolution calls on ExxonMobil to (1) "explain the specific differences between the company's position and that of the IPCC;" (2) "describe company claims about 'gaps in climate science';" (3) "project the estimated costs of mitigating climate change compared to the costs of failing to do so;" and (4) "discuss relevant peer-reviewed research data leading to the company's conclusions, including data that do not support the company's position."
Wilson noted: "ExxonMobil continues to devote substantial resources to lobbying and public relations efforts designed to cast doubt on the consensus science that human activities are partly to blame for the warming of the Earth. The company appears to be asking the public to substitute its opinion for the agreed-upon judgment of the world's most respected scientific organizations. Yet, the company claims that it cannot defend this contrarian view. At CBIS, we hope that with the help of other investor owners, we can prompt ExxonMobil to share this information with us."
ABOUT CBIS
Christian Brothers Investment Services, Inc. manages approximately $4 billion and combines faith and finance in the responsible stewardship of Catholic financial assets. CBIS' combination of premier institutional asset managers, diversified product offerings, and risk-controlled strategies constitutes a unique investment approach for Catholic institutions and their fiduciaries. CBIS strives to integrate faith-based values into the investment process through a disciplined approach to socially responsible investing that includes principled purchasing (stock screens), active ownership strategies (proxy voting, dialogues, and shareholder resolutions) and community investment, through Partners for the Common Good. The firm contributes a portion of all profits to support the Church's educational and social ministry.
