Shareholders at both oil majors have filed resolutions ahead of this spring’s annual general meetings seeking greater accountability on environmental performance and indigenous rights, respectively. A key area of concern that spawned the resolutions is the companies’ role in the Amazon. The Chevron resolution demands a report explaining how the company interprets and complies with national environmental legislation in the countries in which it operates. Filed by Trillium Asset Management, Amnesty International USA, New York City Pension Funds, and Catholic Healthcare Partners, the resolution highlights the ongoing trial against the company in Ecuador for widespread contamination of Amazonian land and water resources in the 1970s. Chevron also faces a related lawsuit brought by the Ecuadorian government in 2006 in New York.
The ConocoPhillips resolution urges respect for indigenous rights and asks company management to provide a report detailing how the company obtains consent from indigenous communities affected by ConocoPhillips operations. The company holds several contested concessions in pristine rainforest territories of indigenous peoples in Ecuador and Peru who oppose oil extraction. Burlington Resources, the company’s predecessor in the region until bought by ConocoPhillips in March 2006, came under fire from indigenous groups for using ‘divide and conquer’ tactics to pressure communities into accepting oil extraction on their lands. The resolution was filed by a coalition of socially responsible investors led by Brethren Benefit Trust.
Both resolutions went unchallenged by the companies and are poised for a vote by stockholders in coming months.
