Tarred oil

12 December 2017 By Lauren Silva Laughlin Follow @TheRealLSL

The $350 bln oil firm is finally planning to comply with shareholder demands – approved months ago – to disclose how global warming will affect its business. That’s welcome. But Exxon’s reputation for fobbing off such concerns means investors need to not just trust, but verify.

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Exxon Mobil has decided to comply with a shareholder request to enhance company disclosures about the effect of climate change in its business, the company said in a regulatory filing on Dec. 11.

On May 31 shareholders had approved a non-binding resolution spearheaded by the New York State Common Retirement Fund calling for Exxon to provide more information about the impact on its operations of global warming.

In a letter addressed specifically to Patrick Doherty, the director of corporate governance at New York state’s comptroller's office, the company said the enhancements to its disclosure would include “energy demand sensitivities, implications of two degree Celsius scenarios, and positioning for a lower-carbon future.” The company plans to publish the information in “the near future.”

The filing came three days before the deadline for shareholders to submit resolutions for the 2018 annual meeting, according to Reuters.

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