Activists get a seat at Exxon's boardroom table

An Exxon station.
(Image credit: David McNew/Getty Images)

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A historically bad day for Big Oil could turn into a "watershed moment" in the climate crisis, said Sam Meredith at CNBC. A stunning "confluence of events" last week saw a string of boardroom and courtroom defeats for three oil giants within hours of each other. The first came when a tiny activist hedge fund that has been pushing ExxonMobil to pivot away from fossil fuels managed to unseat at least two board members of the company. The long-shot victory for Engine No. 1, which holds just a 0.02 percent stake in Exxon, was not the only sign of the "waning patience of investors pushing for much faster action" on climate change. Shareholders of Chevron also voted overwhelmingly to "push the company to reduce its carbon footprint." The same day, "a Dutch court ruled that Shell must reduce its carbon emissions by 45 percent by 2030." This is "the first time in history a company has been legally obliged to align its policies with the Paris Agreement."

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