(Coal) 86% of Imperial Oil investors voted against a partner plan that calls for the entire company to adopt the goal of achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 2050.
The poll, which took place Tuesday at the company’s virtual annual meeting in Calgary, said its parent company, the U.S. The giant ExxonMobil, 69.6% revealed a split between Imperial and its other shareholders because 58% of the company’s non-Exxon owned shares voted for the plan.
The plan, presented by Aquo Partner Engagement Services on behalf of Quebec’s Patent Joint Retirement System, argued that Imperial’s current emissions reduction target for 2023 was a step in the right direction, but that it was important to have a long – term strategy.
Its adoption would have forced Imperial to set a long-term GHG reduction target to join other energy companies such as Senovus Energy, Enbridge, Konoco Philips, PP, Shell and Total.
However, Imperial CEO Brad Corson said at the virtual meeting that he felt it was “in advance” to set goals before setting a definite plan for how to do it. Achieving them ensures that we support initiatives for global warming.
He said Imperial is committed to achieving the current target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 10% by 2023 from the 2016 level.
“Imperial wants to set consistent concrete goals with specific plans and actions,” Corson told the crowd.
“It is very easy to make big promises for 2050, but we want to ensure that our goals are reliable and measurable, and until we successfully identify clear and achievable steps towards net zero emissions we believe our goals are reliable and measurable.” Making such a commitment is a foregone conclusion. ”
