* U.S. asset manager backed Follow This vote at BP
* Also backed two shareholder votes at Equinor
* BlackRock supported management at Shell, Total
* FACTBOX-Big Oil's climate targets
(Adds background and details on BlackRock and oil majors' AGMs)
By Simon Jessop and Ron Bousso
LONDON, May 28 (Reuters) - The world's biggest asset manager
and top BP investor BlackRock said on Friday it
had backed a shareholder resolution calling for faster climate
action which the energy company's board opposed.
BlackRock's vote at BP's annual general meeting earlier this
month points to growing pressure on both major oil companies and
investors to accelerate efforts to slash greenhouse gas
emissions. BlackRock holds a 6.8% stake in BP, according to
Refinitiv data.
The asset manager said, however, that it voted in favour of
Total's energy transition strategy at the company's
AGM on Friday, which won over 90% of shareholder support.
It also supported management at Royal Dutch Shell
in a non-binding vote on the company's energy transition
strategy at its AGM this month. Refinitiv data showed BlackRock
is also the biggest investor in the company.
Managing $9 trillion in assets, BlackRock's vote has been a
key focus for campaigners and investors alike, as pressure
builds on the world's biggest oil companies to put in place a
plan aligned with the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit global
warming.
BlackRock said it had backed a BP shareholder resolution put
forward by activist group Follow This, which asked for the
company to set deeper climate targets.
Although the Follow This resolution was rejected, the 20%
support it won was seen as a signal that a growing number of
investors want CEO Bernard Looney to accelerate his plan to cut
BP's emissions from its oil and gas production to net zero by
2050, which will see it reduce oil output by 40% by 2030.
BlackRock said it supports BP's climate strategy but that it
also supported the Follow This resolution "because we see it as
a means to reiterate our expectation that BP progressively
refine its GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions reduction targets."
BP declined to comment on BlackRock's vote.
Criticised by campaigners for too often siding with
management, BlackRock has toughened its stance with some
companies in recent months, and this week backed boardroom
change at Exxon Mobil over its climate inaction.
With Total's annual meeting bringing an end to the European
oil majors' AGMs for this year, BlackRock released voting
bulletins for all four, detailing how it voted and why.
Before the AGM season began, BlackRock had warned companies
it wanted to see them set climate related targets and report
against them, or they could vote against the board. They also
flagged a willingness to support more shareholder resolutions.
In the case of Royal Dutch Shell, BlackRock said it
supported a non-binding resolution filed by the company on its
energy transition strategy and also voted against a shareholder
resolution calling for Shell to set deeper short- and
medium-term carbon reduction targets.
BlackRock is the company's third-biggest investor, Refinitiv
showed.
BlackRock said it backed the company because "it meets our
expectations that companies have clear policies and action plans
to manage climate risk and provides a roadmap towards the
company’s stated climate ambitions and targets."
"We prefer the annual 'say on climate' advisory vote offered
by management as a mechanism for shareholders to give feedback
on the company’s climate strategy," it said.
At Norway's Equinor, the asset manager backed two
shareholder proposals, against the advice of management, one
calling for the company to set short-, medium- and long-term
targets for greenhouse gas emissions, and one to report on
climate and nature risk.
With regard to the targets, BlackRock said it backed the
resolution as "while recognizing the company's efforts to date,
supporting the resolution may further accelerate the company's
progress on climate risk management", BlackRock said.
(Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
