Exxon Mobil filed a lawsuit in a Texas court on Sunday to block a climate change proposal by an activist investor from being voted on at the company's shareholder meeting in May.
This is the first time Exxon has filed a complaint in court seeking to exclude a shareholder proposal.
The company said investors were “driven by extreme goals” and that adopting stricter emissions targets would have a negative impact on its business and stock price.
Investors led by Arjuna Capital and shareholder activist group Follow This are calling on Exxon and other oil majors to adopt tougher climate targets.
They want Exxon to set so-called Scope 3 targets to reduce emissions emitted by users of its products.
Exxon is the only one of the five Western oil majors that does not have such a goal.
Follow This made similar proposals at shareholder meetings of various oil majors in 2021 and 2022. Only a few shareholders supported them.
Last week, a group of 27 investors, including Follow This, which owns about 5% of Shell's shares, jointly tabled a similar independent climate resolution, which will be put to a vote at the company's general meeting later this year.
Exxon is asking a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas to exclude the Scope 3 proposal in its mandate.
The statement must be submitted by April 11th, in time for the annual general meeting on May 29th.
Exxon says Arjuna and Follow This are pursuing a strategy of “becoming shareholders solely to campaign for” changes that are “calculated to downsize the company's existing operations.”
Follow This said last year that setting mid-term targets aligned with Paris that cover Scope 3 was paramount to its long-term interests in the face of climate change.
