The US Securities and Exchange Commission has directed two of America’s biggest oil companies to hold shareholder votes on farreaching new emissions targets, as the regulator adopts a tougher approach to climate under the Biden administration. The SEC denied requests from both ConocoPhillips and Occidental
Petroleum to throw out shareholder motions that would force them to lay out detailed plans for cutting their so-called “Scope 3” emissions — those from the burning of their products by customers. Both companies had argued that the proposals, to be presented at their annual meetings, sought to micromanage their operations — grounds under which the regulator had allowed companies to reject similar proposals under the Trump administration. But the SEC said it was “unable to concur” with this argument in both instances.
“In our view, the proposal does not seek to micromanage the company to such a degree that exclusion of the proposal would be appropriate,” the regulator wrote to Conoco in a letter seen by the Financial Times.
Recommended The decisions mark the first time that the SEC has denied requests by oil and gas companies to exclude votes on Scope 3 emissions, according to activists. They suggest the regulator is
“They are wasting no time,” said Mark van Baal, founder of Follow
This, a Dutch shareholder group that filed the motion against Conoco. “I think it’s really impressive that less than two months after the inauguration there is a completely new spirit at the SEC. ”