Skip to content
  • MyNewMarkets.com
  • Claims Journal
  • Insurance Journal TV
  • Academy of Insurance
  • Carrier Management
Insurance Journal - Property Casualty Industry News

Featured Stories

  • App Trucker Path Launches Retail Insurance Agency
  • Berkley Explains Property Market, Company Appetite
  • Articles
  • Jobs
  • Markets

Current Magazine

current magazine
  • Read Online
  • Subscribe
  • Login
  • Front Page
    • National
    • International
    • Most Popular
    • Magazine
    • Forums
    • Blogs
    • Videos/Podcasts
    • Newsletters
  • News
    • Most Popular
    • National
    • International
    • East
    • Midwest
    • South Central
    • Southeast
    • West
  • Magazines
  • Research
  • Directories
  • Jobs
  • Features
    • Events
    • Forums
    • Market Directories
    • Quotes
    • Polls
    • Rankings & Awards
    • Insurance Giving Back
  • Subscribe

Climate Votes Fought by Major Oil Companies Get Key Backing

April 26, 2022
Email This Subscribe to Newsletter
  • Article

An investor-led push for major oil companies to set climate goals in line with the Paris agreement won support from a key proxy advisory firm for the first time, setting up a showdown at upcoming shareholder meetings.

Institutional Shareholder Services urged investors in Occidental Petroleum Corp. and refiner Valero Energy Corp. to back proposals to align the companies’ targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions — including their customers’ — with the Paris agreement, according to investor reports seen by Bloomberg. ISS is likely to issue the same recommendation for eight other oil companies, including Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., facing similar votes, said Mark van Baal, founder of activist investor group Follow This.

It’s the first time that ISS “doesn’t agree with an oil major’s claim that the company already has Paris-consistent targets,” van Baal said. Occidental and Valero didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

The ISS decision is significant because many investors follow its voting recommendations closely during proxy voting season. Its recommendation comes as major money managers such as BlackRock Inc. increasingly supported environmental proposals last year, and as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission weighs a new rule that would mandate that public companies disclose climate risks and carbon emissions.

“Investors would benefit from additional information on interim steps the company is taking to meet its long-term net-zero by 2050 target and how it plans to allocate capital in line with that goal,” ISS said in its recommendation to Occidental shareholders. Occidental’s annual meeting is scheduled for May 6, while Valero’s is April 27.

Though Occidental in 2020 became the first major U.S. oil producer to aim for net zero emissions from everything it extracts and sells, the plan relies heavily on capturing carbon dioxide and burying it, a technology that’s so far been prohibitively expensive. Valero’s climate goals also rely on carbon capture. The companies are urging investors to vote against the climate resolutions.

The SEC has allowed more environmental and social proposals to go to vote this year after overturning a policy enacted under the Trump administration that made it easier for companies to exclude such resolutions from ballots. The agency has quashed 19% of resolutions that companies asked to block this season, compared with between 43% and 54% over the past four years, according to research firm Sustainable Investments Institute near Washington.

Follow This and another shareholder group, Majority Action, have proposed that Occidental and other oil producers such as Exxon Mobil Corp. set stricter targets to reduce emissions and combat climate change.

Reporting by Paul Takahashi, Kevin Crowley and Scott Deveau. With assistance from Saijel Kishan.

Photo: An oil storage tank at the Valero Energy Corp. oil refinery in Memphis, Tennessee/Bloomberg.

Copyright 2025 Bloomberg.

Topics Energy Oil Gas

Was this article valuable?

Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article.

Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it.

Here are more articles you may enjoy.

A futuristic female cyborg in profile looking up with a glowing red brain visible through a transparent helmet.The Future of the Agency in a World of AI
Trucking App Trucker Path Launches Retail Insurance Agency
GEICO Sues Medical Firms in Florida, NY Over Alleged No-Fault Auto Fraud
AI Learning and Artificial Intelligence Concept. Business, modern technology, internet and networking concept.Viewpoint: Insurance and AI – A Double-Edged Sword

Interested in Energy?

Get automatic alerts for this topic.

Email This Subscribe to Newsletter
  • Categories: National NewsTopics: climate, Energy, environmental social governance (ESG, ESG, greenhouse gas emissions, oil
  • Have a hot lead? Email us at newsdesk@insurancejournal.com
More News
AIG to Acquire Renewal Rights of Everest’s Retail Commercial Business Worth $2B
Banks Rocked by ‘Extreme’ Car Loan Costs Gear Up for FCA Fight
NHTSA to Expand Probe Into 286,000 GM Vehicles Over Possible Engine Failure
Alaska Airlines Vows IT Upgrades After Outage Forces 400 Flight Cancellations
More News Features

Read This Next

  • Climate Votes Fought by Major Oil Companies Get Key Backing
  • AM Best Assigns Credit Rating to Texas' Dallas Specialty
  • The Future of the Agency in a World of AI
  • Record Global Renewable Energy Growth Remains Short of Climate Target: Report
  • NAMIC to Federal Lawmakers: Do Your Job on Flood Insurance Program

Insurance Jobs

  • Senior Underwriter - Denver, CO ( Hybrid)
  • Business Development Representative - Remote/Pittsburgh, PA/Allentown, PA
  • Regional Sales Manager - Irving, TX
  • Property Liability Claims Supervisor - Wilsonville, OR
  • Commercial Lines Account Manager – Insurance – REMOTE - Remote
MyNewMarkets
  • Bigger Piece of the Pie: Surplus Lines Market Hits New Record as Specialty Lines Continue to Grow in Prominence, Market Share
  • Death and Insurance (Not Taxes): Part One
  • AI for Agents
  • How to Attract the Next Generation to Insurance
  • 5 Evolving Trends Shaping Architects and Engineers Coverage
Claims Journal
  • Alaska Airlines Vows IT Upgrades After Outage Forced Flight Cancellations
  • CyberCube Puts Insured Loss Estimate From AWS Outage Around $40M
  • NHTSA Expanding Probe into 286,000 GMs Over Possible Engine Failure Issue
  • Chinese Robotaxis Race Waymo to Take Driverless Cars Global
  • Hurricane Melissa Churns Toward Jamaica as a Category 5 Storm
Academy of Insurance education
  • October 21 E&S Property Underwriting
  • October 23 Gotchas That'll Getchya - Latest Policy Language That'll Get You Sued
  • October 30 Challenges in Agency Mergers – Reducing Staff Flight and Avoiding E&O Claims
  • November 6 Risk and Insurance for Digital Nomads

Insurance News

  • News by Region
  • News by Topic
  • Yesterday

Site Search

Features

  • Insurance Markets Directory
  • Forums
  • A.M. Best Company Ratings
  • Industry Events
  • Agencies For Sale
  • Newswire
  • Insurance Jobs
  • Rankings & Awards

Connect with us

  • Email Newsletters
  • Magazine Subscriptions
  • For Your Website
  • RSS Feeds
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Do Not Sell My Info

Insurance Journal

  • Submit News
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Reprints
  • Link to Us
  • Contact Us

Wells Media Group Network

  • Insurance Journal
  • MyNewMarkets.com
  • Claims Journal
  • Insurance Journal TV
  • Academy of Insurance
  • Carrier Management
© 2025 by Wells Media Group, Inc. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Site Map