BP’s chairman Albert Manifold kept his seat after a shareholder vote on Thursday but faced significant dissent, with nearly one in five investors opposing his reappointment.
The outcome reflects growing unease among BP’s investors over the company’s strategic direction, particularly its renewed focus on oil and gas production at the expense of renewable energy investments and climate transparency.
Shareholders rejected two key board proposals: one to hold future meetings exclusively online, which 52 percent opposed, and another to scrap two earlier resolutions requiring detailed climate reporting, which 53 percent voted against despite the board arguing that legal sustainability reporting rules made them redundant.
The climate reporting vote was especially notable because it fell short of the 75 percent supermajority needed to amend the resolutions, signaling that a majority of shareholders still demand greater insight into BP’s emissions and climate impact.
Manifold defended the board’s position during the meeting, saying the Follow This resolution proposing a strategy for maintaining shareholder value amid declining oil demand had not been properly submitted, but acknowledged that BP does not routinely block shareholder proposals.
Nevertheless, 18 percent of shareholders voted against his reappointment, a rare level of dissent for a chairman typically endorsed by near-unanimous support.
This opposition was anticipated by some pension funds and proxy advisers, including Legal & General Investment Management, which holds 1.5 percent of BP’s shares and had already signaled its intention to vote against Manifold due to the board’s refusal to include the Follow This resolution on the agenda.
Marc van Baal, director of Follow This, said the voting results showed that “many shareholders agree with us, the governance of BP fails,” highlighting a growing rift between activist investors and company leadership over climate accountability.
The shareholder pushback underscores a broader tension within BP as it pivots back toward fossil fuels after earlier investments in renewables, a shift that has drawn criticism from environmentally focused stakeholders.
The vote took place as BP’s stock traded at 570.30 pence in London, down 0.37 percent for the day but up 31.77 percent year-to-date, reflecting investor confidence in near-term financial performance despite strategic disagreements.
Why did shareholders oppose the chairman’s reappointment despite allowing him to stay?
Shareholders expressed concern over BP’s governance and climate strategy, particularly the board’s refusal to discuss how it would maintain shareholder value if oil demand declines, but stopped short of removing Manifold because he had only served one year and retained majority support.
What does the rejection of the climate reporting resolutions mean for BP’s future disclosures?
BP will continue to be required to produce detailed climate reports under existing shareholder resolutions, as the vote to scrap them failed to reach the 75 percent threshold needed for change, ensuring ongoing transparency demands from investors.
