(In fifth paragraph corrects name to AXA Investment Managersfrom Management)
LONDON, April 16 (Reuters) - BP shareholders votedoverwhelmingly on Thursday to publish regular updates on how itsstrategies were affecting climate change from next year, makingit one of the first global oil companies to disclose suchdetails.
Ninety-eight percent of BP shareholders supported the planproposed by a group of investors and non-governmentalorganisations at its annual general meeting in London.
"This resolution is about disclosure, it's not about settingtargets," said BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg at the event. BPdid not specify what shape the disclosures will take.
A number of shareholders at the meeting, including arepresentative of the $300 billion California Public EmployeesRetirement System, said voting through the resolution wasfundamental to them retaining BP stocks.
Some of BP's top 20 shareholders including Norway'ssovereign wealth fund, Schroders and AXA Investment Managers haddeclared their support ahead of the vote.
"I suspect that these will be the first of manyboard-supported shareholder resolutions on this topic during thecritical 2015-20 climate policy making window," said HelenWildsmith, head of ethical and responsible investment at CCLA,who lead the group's engagement with BP.
Outside the meeting, protesters displayed banners andposters against BP's involvement in Canada's tar sands oilexploration.
Shareholders at BP rival Shell will vote on thesame resolution at the oil firm's annual general meeting in TheHague on May 19. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps and Dmitry Zhdannikov; Editing byMark Potter and Andrew Heavens)
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