Green activist investor Follow This has vowed to fight BP in court after the supermajor did not include a Follow This-led resolution to explain how the company takes investment decisions to create value for shareholders.
In January, Follow This and 23 institutional investors filed shareholder resolutions with both BP and Shell, requesting disclosure of shareholder value creation under scenarios of declining oil and gas demand.
The resolution for the Annual General Meeting of BP, to be held on April 23, 2026, is backed by 23 institutional investors with $1.74 trillion in assets under management.
The resolutions proposed at BP and Shell mark a strategic shift.
“Rather than requesting Paris-aligned emissions reduction targets, they focus on financial performance and value creation,” Follow This said in January.
“These resolutions are designed to increase shareholder pressure and focus attention on the financial unsustainability of fossil fuel business models,” said Mark van Baal, founder of Follow This.
BP, however, last week did not include the proposed resolution in its notice for the AGM.
Regarding the Follow This resolution left out of the AGM notice, the activist investor said in a statement on Wednesday carried by Reuters that “If BP does not comply within two days, Follow This and investors will pursue injunctive relief in court ordering BP to circulate the resolution to shareholders.”
Related: Little-Known US Company Lands Important Pentagon Contract in Rare Earth Race
A spokesperson for BP said that “The board determined, having taken legal advice, that the proposed resolution did not conform to legal requirements. Moreover, we have a clear strategy with multi-year targets to drive long-term shareholder value across the cycle and remain fully committed to responsible industry-standard climate related reporting.”
In the notice for the AGM, the supermajor asked shareholders to vote against another resolution that demanded disclosures on how BP “promotes a disciplined approach to capital expenditure in order to generate an acceptable return on capital for each new material oil and/or gas project of the company.”
BP’s board does not support this resolution as it is duplicative of existing disclosures the company already makes and recommended shareholders vote against it.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
More Top Reads From Oilprice.com
- Why $100 Oil Isn’t Going to Spark a New Shale Boom
- The Chokepoint Economy: What Happens When Everything Breaks at Once
- Gulf Producers Slash Oil Output by 5 Million Bpd
