Follow This shifts strategy to focus on value if hydrocarbon demand declines
Investors that back assets worth around 1.5 trillion euros back the resolutions
Investor support for emissions cuts reached around 20% at BP and 80% at Phillips 66
LONDON, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Climate activist shareholder group Follow This and more than 20 other investors have filed resolutions calling on BP BP.L and Shell SHEL.L to disclose how they will create value if global demand for oil and gas declines, the group said on Wednesday.
The resolutions reflect a strategic shift on the part of the Dutch activist group, after it said in April that a lack of investor appetite had forced it to suspend its nearly decade-long campaign of seeking stronger commitments from major oil and gas producers to emissions cuts.
Follow This started filing climate resolutions at shareholder meetings in 2016 and attracted peak shareholder votes in subsequent years of 80% at Phillips 66 PSX.N, 60% at Chevron CVX.N, around a third at Exxon XOM.N and Shell SHEL.L and a fifth at BP BP.L.
The group will concentrate on demanding that BP and Shell disclose longer-term strategies under scenarios of declining oil and gas demand, the group said.
Along with other producers, the two companies have cut back their renewable energy pledges to focus investment on oil and gas projects.
The resolutions request BP and Shell to publish reports covering at least 10 years, detailing capital expenditure, production plans, and free cash flow projections under declining demand scenarios, including from the International Energy Agency.
The co-filing investors, which manage about 1.5 trillion euro ($1.75 trillion) in assets, include Achmea Investment Management and the Ethos Foundation, as well as a number of European local pension funds.
The IEA said in November it expected oil demand to peak around 2030, under a scenario that takes account of policies that have been put forward but not necessarily adopted.
However, under a different scenario based on existing government policies and excluding aspirations to achieve climate goals, the IEA predicted that global oil and gas demand could grow until 2050, a departure from previous expectations.
($1 = 0.8557 euros)
(Reporting by Stephanie Kelly and Shadia Nasralla; editing by Barbara Lewis)
((Stephanie.Kelly@tr.com))
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