05/26/2006
Source: LOHAS Weekly Newsletter
Author: GreenBiz.com
Seventeen leading U.S. pension fund and other institutional investors
controlling $658 billion in assets are pushing for a face-to-face meeting
with independent members of the ExxonMobil board of directors as a result of
growing financial world concerns that ExxonMobil is "a company that fails to
acknowledge the potential for climate change to have a profound impact on
global energy markets, and which lags far behind its competitors in
developing a strategy to plan for and manage these impacts."
Pension fund trustees from seven states, New York City, and eight other
major institutional investors with over 110 million ExxonMobil shares worth
an estimated $6.75 billion made the request for the meeting this week. All
those seeking the action from Exxon Mobil are members of the Investor
Network on Climate Risk. The group of 17 consists of six state treasurers
(Connecticut, California, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Maine, Vermont), the
California State Controller, the California Public Employees' Retirement
System (CalPERS), the New York State Comptroller, New York City Comptroller,
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, General Board of Pension and Health
Benefits of the United Methodist Church, International Brotherhood of
Teamsters, Tri-State Coalition for Responsible Investment, Walden Asset
Management, The Nathan Cummings Foundation, and the Sheet Metal Workers
Pension Fund.
"Shareholders deserve to know if the companies they own are going down
the prudent path -- adopting environmental practices that will enable them
to survive and thrive in a world of increasing environmental concern and
regulation - or whether they are following a path that will damage both our
environment and our bottom line," said California State Treasurer Phil
Angelides, also a trustee of CalPERS and CalSTRS. "The growing risks of
climate change and the skyrocketing gas prices consumers are facing
highlight the need for increased investment in alternative energy sources.
Exxon Mobil must come clean with shareholders about the company's risks and
demonstrate the company is ready to face the environmental challenges of the
future."
Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres and director of the Investor Network on
Climate Risk, said: “Investors and Wall Street analysts have recently
evaluated Exxon Mobil's corporate governance on climate change relative to
its peers such as BP and Shell, and Exxon Mobil has not scored well.
Investors in the Investor Network on Climate Risk are now joining forces to
ask Exxon Mobil's board to meet with shareholders to discuss the company
strategy to protect long-term shareholder value in a carbon-constrained
world.”
According to Connecticut State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier, “ExxonMobil
is making a massive bet -- with shareholders' money -- that the world’s
addiction to oil will not abate for decades, even as its competitors are
taking significant steps to prepare for a rapidly changing energy
environment. As investors, we are concerned that ExxonMobil is not
sufficiently preparing for 'tomorrow’s energy’ and runs the risk of lagging
significantly behind its rivals. As shareholders, we need to meet with the
ExxonMobil board directly, to learn how it plans to safeguard long-term
shareholder value in light of the serious challenges -- and opportunities --
presented by climate change.”
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