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Proxy advisory firm ISS is recommending shareholders of Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) and Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) back activist proposals to align the companies’ targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, including those of their customers, with the 2015 Paris climate agreement, Bloomberg reported on Monday.
The stand marks the first time ISS “does not agree with an oil major’s claim that the company already has Paris-consistent targets,” according to Mark van Baal, founder of activist investor group Follow This, who also thinks ISS likely will issue the same recommendation for eight other oil companies, including Exxon Mobil and Chevron, facing similar climate-related votes.
“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 (OXY) shareholders; the company’s annual meeting is scheduled for May 6, while Valero’s (VLO) comes on April 27.
The ISS decision comes as the SEC weighs a new rule that would mandate that public companies disclose climate risks and carbon emissions.
