Oil major BP braces for shareholder turmoil

BP is bracing for shareholder unrest at its annual general meeting.

The UK’s biggest pension funds will pressure the oil major after it scrapped targets to roll back emissions due to high profits.

The Dutch group is calling on the energy company to align its climate goals with the landmark Paris climate agreement and commit to massive cuts in carbon emissions by 2030.

The UK’s largest pension fund and the British Local Government Pension Fund Forum have both supported the motion.

A possible consequence of a shareholder uprising against the Chairperson’s reappointment could be the reduction of the pension funds’ green promises without the backing of shareholders in retaliation for the company’s course of action.

Scientists have warned that time is fast running out to avoid a very bad climate emergency.

Burning fuels, such as oil and gas, is a major driver of the climate crisis.

Energy giants have come under intense pressure from shareholders to invest in clean energy as oil demand has shrunk from a 2020 shutdown peak.

But the West’s five biggest oil companies should make around $200 billion in profits in 2022 as fossil fuel prices rise after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, pushing for green reform, has lost its initial steam.

OPEC+ production cuts

The Paris-based energy agency said earlier this month that OPEC+’s sudden cut in oil production could hamper the economic recovery.

Several OPEC+ members announced on April 2 that they plan to tighten global production.

OPEC removed the IEA as a secondary source last year.

OPEC and the IEA also have different views on their approach to global decarbonisation. The IEA said the path to net-zero emissions would require massive cuts in oil and gas consumption and that there was no room for new fossil fuel projects.