Anthony Browne
Directors of BP Amoco, the world’s largest oil producer, will this week face a revolt by shareholders who want investment diverted to renewable energy.
The annual meeting will vote on a groundbreaking resolution urging the firm to abandon its Northstar oilfield in Alaska and reinvest the money in solar power.
The resolution was filed by Greenpeace and the Wilderness Society, who bought BP Amoco shares, but has support from some institutional investors.
Derbyshire County Council Pension Fund and South Yorkshire Pension Fund said they will vote for the resolution. Birmingham City Council Pension Fund will show disapproval of BP policy by abstaining.
Alaskan Eskimos with shares are flying in to tell of Northstar’s impact on their habitat.
The influential institutional adviser Pension & Investment Research Consultants advises its clients to vote for the resolution.
Stuart Bell, research director, said: “It might involve short-term costs, but a shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy is in the shareholders’ long-term interest.
“It’s about getting the company to make a more serious commitment to renewable energy.”
BP Solar is market leader in solar panel production.
It is the first time an oil firm outside the United States has faced such a resolution.
It is being fiercely resisted by directors.
Stephanie Tunmore from Greenpeace admitted most large investors will back management.
But she said similar resolutions in the US had “changed the direction”.