19 Institutional Investors Join Rockefellers To Protest Exxon Policies One Week Before Annual Meet [View All]

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A campaign to persuade ExxonMobil to take climate change more seriously has won support from 19 institutional investors before a potentially explosive showdown at the annual meeting next week. A coalition of disaffected shareholders stepped forward yesterday, including public investment funds from California, New York, Illinois, Maine and Vermont plus the United Methodist Church and the AFSCME public employees' union. They intend to back resolutions calling for Exxon to appoint an independent chairman and to set up a task force tackling global warming.

Bill Lockyer, state treasurer of California, contrasted Exxon's view of itself as an oil company with the approaches of BP and Shell, which have attempted to re-shape themselves as broader energy providers using alternative sources of power. "Exxon Mobil is a company with lots of creative business talent," said Lockyer. "They have the talent to be nimble and if they want to stay around, they need to be."

The institutions that came forward yesterday hold 91m Exxon shares worth $8.6bn (£4.4bn). Although this is small in the context of the company's $505bn market capitalisation, they are hoping to harness a groundswell of support from fellow investors. The resolutions, which are opposed by Exxon's board, are sponsored by the Rockefeller family, whose ancestor, John D Rockefeller, founded Exxon's predecessor company Standard Oil in 1870.

"It is time for Exxon to heed the call of its shareholders," said Mindy Lubber, president of the environmentally conscious investors' network Ceres. "Exxon has taken a go-slow approach, failing to prepare for a leadership position in what we know will be a carbon-controlled world." The investors' central demand is that Exxon's chief executive, Rex Tillerson, should relinquish the role of chairman to an outsider in order to stimulate more debate on the company's board. A year ago, a resolution calling for such a change attracted 40% support, while a motion demanding action on global warming won 30%. Activists are optimistic of doing better this time.

EDIT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/may/22/exxonmobil.oil?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront