Two Exxon shareholders to withhold support for directors over climate change response

[May 04, 2019]   (Reuters) - Two Exxon Mobil Corp shareholders said on Friday they would withhold their support for the re-election of all ExxonMobil directors at the company's annual meeting due to the U.S. oil major's "inadequate response" to climate change.

The Church Commissioners for England (CCE), the endowment fund of the Church of England, as well as New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who manages the state's pension fund, also urged other shareholders to vote in favor of an independent chairman.

ExxonMobil's inadequate responses to climate change indicated its board was not functioning effectively due to the absence of an independent chairman, the two shareholders said in a filing.

Exxon Mobil did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for DiNapoli declined immediate comment on Friday.

The filing comes after the Securities and Exchange Commission said earlier in April that Exxon Mobil was not required to let investors vote on a shareholder submission calling on the company to set emissions targets beginning next year.

An Exxon gas station is seen in Houston, Texas, U.S., April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Loren Elliott

Exxon had called the resolution misleading, substantially implemented and an attempt to interfere with its management responsibilities.

The proposal, which would have asked the oil company to set emissions targets "aligned with the greenhouse gas reduction goals established by the Paris climate agreement," was rejected by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

(Reporting by Akashdeep Baruah and Philip George in Bengaluru and Gary McWilliams in Houston; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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