This Friday, TotalEnergies plunges into full paradox. While the group experienced record profits in 2022 – 21 billion euros all the same – rarely has a general meeting of the oil giant seemed so (expected). Several NGOs and climate activists signed a forum warning: “Total’s general meeting will not take place”. Already last year, activists had prevented access to certain members. And even within the assembly, it promises to be electric. Because 17 investors, holding 1.5% of the company’s shares, announced their intention to file an advisory waiver on Friday so that the oil giant “aligns its reduction objectives” in greenhouse gas emissions with the Paris agreement for 2030. This is also a persistent idea. In 2020, a first binding resolution on the climate plan had already been tabled, collecting 17% of the votes. Last year, TotalEnergies refused to allow such a text to be put to the vote. Atmosphere…
And it is not the general assembly of Shell, Tuesday, which should reassure the group. The Church of England pension fund voted against the renewal of the leaders, accusing them of an insufficient ecological transition. Add environmental activists who came to disrupt the event, and here is a possible taste of what Total will experience today.
“A sequence where it is important to show yourself”
Long taboo or avoided, the ecological question has now become inevitable during general meetings of oil and gas and banking groups, and well beyond. On May 17, Ugandan activist Hilda Flavia Nakabuye questioned the managing director of Crédit Agricole during the group’s general meeting, the biggest bank supporter of TotalEnergies: “I’m here to talk to you about the destruction taking place in my home and to which you contribute. The Eacop pipeline that TotalEnergies is building will displace 100,000 people in Uganda and Tanzania. The activist had asked Philippe Brassac to take a stand to stop Eacop, so that TotalEnergies put an end to oil and gas expansion and aligned its activities with a 1.5 degree scenario.
We should also mention the throwing of cream cake in the direction of shareholders at Volkswagen’s high mass in early May, and the CEO’s speech interrupted by a shirtless activist, her chest covered with slogans. Or the case, on April 26, of the British hydrocarbon giant BP, which saw its batch of rebellious shareholders promise to vote against the re-election of the chairman of the board of directors.
An unavoidable subject, therefore. And “an issue that has transformed the current context in such a profound way that large groups have every interest in taking up the subject, notes Clémence Knaebel, director of innovation and sustainable development consulting at Publicis Sapient, a strategic consulting firm. Not only because there is little chance that it will disappear, but also because there is more to be gained over time by seizing it voluntarily than by dodging it”.
“General assemblies are a strategic sequence where it is important to show off”, confirms Lorette Philippot, spokesperson for Friends of the Earth, a climate association with a strong presence in GAs: “We come to highlight the reality of the activities of the company, trying to open the eyes of shareholders. For this, scientists are often invited by activists, in order to expose the most precise facts possible. “These are times when the company’s strategy is presented, and where the future trajectory is mapped out. We just come to remind the truth beyond the fine speeches of greenwashing “.
A non-compulsory presentation of climate issues
Actions that Lorette Philippot wants to believe effective: “Our goal is not to change the result of the current GA. But it is important that companies are confronted with their actions. And above all, over a longer period, shareholders can reflect on their support for these large groups. Same finding of slow evolution for the Responsible Investment Forum (FIR). The association, created in 2001, brings together investors and actors from civil society, and aims to encourage listed companies to commit to sustainable development. A path, as we have said, still long: “Only three CAC40 companies presented a climate strategy in AG last year. There is no legal obligation to do so, or to organize a vote”, regrets Nathalie Lhayani, president of the association.
A lack that the FIR would like to remedy. Along with other players, the forum asked the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, to add to the “Green Industry” bill the obligation to present a climate strategy to shareholders at least every three years, as well as the possibility for the latter to vote on the subject. While awaiting the verdict, the FIR already notes certain improvements. Nathalie Lhayani: “More and more investors are concerned about climate issues, and demand accountability before approving company plans”.
shareholder activism
Some shareholders have even made it their specialty. In particular Ecofi, a management company which pursues a “shareholder activism” strategy. Understand: it invests in many companies – counting 292 participations in General Meetings last year – and votes according to several ESG criteria – Environmental, Social and Good Governance. On the climate issue, Cesare Vitali, head of ESG analysis, gives two examples: “We will always vote against a project that indicates that we want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 or 2050 without giving precise figures. . Or if the company speaks of compensation and not of reduction”. On average, Ecofi votes 41% “no”, against 19% for all shareholders.
We come back to the resolutions. “You have to hold 5% of the capital of the company to be certain that the resolution is presented to the GA. We therefore meet between several committed shareholders to demand more climate ambitions. This Friday, the Carrefour group has the right to its resolution, notably proposed by Ecofi, relating to a more effective ecological transition. “These actions and votes can be considered as spur to take this great turning point, with the requirement to combine ecological ambition and economic ambition, which the company cannot abandon”, pleads Clémence Knaebel. Start of response this Friday.