Overview
- Shareholders at Thursday's AGM rejected board motions to allow online-only meetings and to scrap older climate-reporting rules from 2015 and 2019.
- Both proposals were special resolutions that needed 75% support to pass, resulting in a rare defeat for BP’s directors.
- Albert Manifold was elected chair with about 81.8% support, a weaker endorsement than the near-unanimous votes directors often receive.
- BP had blocked a climate proposal from Follow This after legal advice said it was not valid, while a separate ACCR resolution was accepted onto the agenda but opposed by management as duplicative.
- Proxy firms Glass Lewis and ISS and investors like Legal & General urged votes against parts of the board’s agenda, while Norway’s wealth fund backed management, highlighting a split over BP’s climate transparency and oil-first strategy.