(Updates with reaction from Shell)
AMSTERDAM, May 23 (Reuters) - Dutch pension fund PGGM, amajor shareholder in Royal Dutch Shell, criticised thecompany's climate change policy on Monday, a day before Shell'sannual meeting.
"We are not yet convinced Shell has sufficientlyinternalised the consequences of climate change in its strategyand future plans," the fund said in a statement published on itswebsite.
But PGGM said it would not vote in favour of a resolutionput on the shareholder meeting's agenda by activist group"Follow This" directing the oil giant to transform itself into a"sustainable energy" company.
The pension fund said that shareholders should not interfereso directly in the management of the company.
"PGGM emphatically endorses the message that 'Follow This'is giving in its proposal: the demand for Shell to show moreleadership" in developing renewable energy, the pension fundsaid.
A Shell spokesman on Monday pointed to recent statements bythe company's CEO Ben van Beurden that the company "recognisesthe importance of the climate challenge."
"Our aim is to play a role in meeting these challenges byexploring solutions in areas of our technical expertise such asnatural gas productions, efficient future fuels (eg, biofuelsand hydrogen), carbon capture and storage, and also in emergingenergy system technologies."
In 2009, Shell called a halt to investments in wind or solarenergy, saying they were too unprofitable and it saw thedevelopment of biofuels as more in line with its strategy.
But this year the company partially reversed course and saidearlier this month it has joined a consortium that is bidding toparticipate in a major wind turbine project in the North Sea offthe Dutch coast. (Reporting by Toby Sterling. Editing by Jane Merriman and DavidEvans)
