Oil major Exxon Mobil is suing activist investors to prevent them from filing climate proposals during its annual shareholder meetings, according to a complaint filed Sunday, the latest advance between an escalating battle between fossil fuel companies and green investors.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas against investment firm Arjuna Capital, which is based in Massachusetts, and Follow This, a Dutch investor group.
“The breakdown of the shareholder proposal process, one that allows proponents to advance their agendas through a flood of proposals, does not serve the interests of investors,” Exxon said in an email to CNBC. “We are simply asking the court to apply the SEC’s proxy rules as written to stop this abuse and eliminate the significant resources required to address them.”
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This is the first time the oil major has worked to exclude a shareholder proposal through the courts. Exxon had stated investors are driven by “an extreme agenda” and that their proposals do not serve investors’ interests.
Follow This and Arjuna Capital filed a climate resolution for the oil major’s annual meeting. The two groups have demanded oil companies establish targets for Scope 3 emissions, which would include those generated in the use of the oil and gas produced by Exxon. The oil and gas major is the only one among five other Western oil majors that does not have Scope 3 targets.
