* Says Shell's climate strategy not ambitious enough
* Calls for incoming chairman to conduct review
* Joins UK pensions group in backing resolution
(Adds detail from statement, bullet points, background)
By Simon Jessop
LONDON, May 13 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell
investor RWC said on Thursday it planned to back a
climate-related shareholder proposal put forward at the
company's annual meeting by activist group Follow This.
RWC said the company's energy transition plans were not
ambitious enough, lacked detail and did not put the company on a
path to align with the goals of the Paris Agreement within the
next decade.
The Follow This resolution, which will be voted on at the
company's May 18 AGM, calls for the company to set
"inspirational" targets to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
that are aligned with the Paris Agreement.
RWC's move follows recent support for the Follow This
proposal from the UK's Local Authority Pension Fund Forum, and
growing support for Follow This proposals at other oil majors
including BP.
"Greater ambition on the company’s medium-term GHG emission
reduction targets and clarity on how capital expenditure plans
align with those targets would give investors confidence in
Shell’s intentions of fully aligning with the Paris Agreement,"
said John Teahan of the RWC Equity Income team.
"It is also very important to see carbon offset plans that
are credible and achievable in an industry-wide context."
RWC also called on Shell's incoming chairman Andrew
Mackenzie to perform a full review of the company's transition
plans.
"It is becoming ever more important for our clients that the
fossil-fuel producers in which we invest articulate a strategy
that can be commercially successful and in line with what
society needs to do to limit global warming," Teahan said.
"If we are not able to convince our clients that fossil fuel
producers are able to do both of those things, we may lose the
ability to allocate capital to those companies."
RWC said it held 15 million shares in Shell at May 4.
(Reporting by Simon Jessop; editing by Carolyn Cohn)
