Exxon board ouster over climate change has big implications. Here's why

ESG Insider: A podcast from S&P Global

Last week the ESG world saw a major shakeup at one of the world’s largest oil majors. Specifically, at Exxon Mobil’s annual proxy meeting, shareholders voted to replace three board members with directors put forward by a small activist investor group — known as Engine No. 1. The group claimed Exxon was not moving fast enough to address climate change and that the board needed a fresh perspective to steer the company in the right direction.

Shareholders have threatened for years to oust board members if companies don’t move fast enough on climate change. But last week, they carried through on that threat.

To better understand the implications of the vote for both Exxon and other companies, we talked with Andrew Logan, senior director of oil and gas at Ceres, which works with investors to press companies to tackle climate change.

"I think this will certainly get the attention of other boards in this sector and beyond," Andrew said. "Nothing focuses the minds of a corporate director like the possibility that they might lose their job."

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