A consortium of European asset managers including Man Group, Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management and PGGM Investments have filed a resolution to TotalEnergies asking the French oil major to address its emissions through reductions targets in line with the Paris Agreement.
Alongside shareholder activist group Follow This File, the 17 asset managers, representing €1.1trn in assets, filed the resolution ahead of TotalEnergies annual general meeting (AGM) on 26 May, asking the firm to align its 2030 Scope 3 emissions reduction targets with the Paris Agreement.
The resolution stated TotalEnergies has not made sufficient progress towards supporting the transition from fossil fuels to low-carbon energy sources.
“Based on its plans to ramp up gas production, we expect TotalEnergies to become the largest European hydrocarbon producer by 2030. This is not reconcilable with a Paris-aligned emission reduction pathway,” said Bertille Knuckey, fund manager at Sycomore Asset Management.
Last year, TotalEnergies’ board of directors refused to put a similar but binding shareholder resolution to a vote and as a result the investors decided to file a consultative resolution this year; a consultative resolution does not impose anything on the company or its board of directors, a statement said, but instead allows investors to express their desire that the company aligns its 2030 Scope 3 targets with the goal of the Paris Accord.
The resolution is similar to those filed for the 2023 AGMs of Shell, BP, ExxonMobil, and Chevron by the same consortium of investors.
“Investors who are committed to addressing the climate crisis will vote for all five climate resolutions at these five supermajors, because all five companies are determined to extract fossil fuels for as long as possible,” they said.
“The picture is clear now, no oil major has plans to drive down emissions this decade. Now it’s up to the shareholders to vote. Together with major investors, we continue to compel these five supermajors to put its full weight behind the energy transition.”
