At it’s annual general meeting, Equinor shareholders voted down a resolution to align the company’s emissions targets with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
The company’s majority stakeholder is the Norwegian government. While Equinor has made the largest move toward renewable energy of any major European operator, its emissions targets are still not tied to absolute carbon neutrality.
According to climate-focused investor group Follow This, around 27% of the non-government voters backed the resolution, increasing from 12% in 2019. However, this movement is largely symbolic because of the Norwegian government’s control.
Other propositions ranged from phasing out exploration over two years to stopping it immediately, as well as stopping all offshore operations outside of Norway. All of these were rejected, with the board saying their current strategy already supported “a balanced transition to low carbon society”.