ExxonMobil’s two directors ousted amid remarkable oil climate strategy campaign

A hedge fund that’s lambasted ExxonMobil’s climate strategy won enough shareholder aid to force out at least two directors from the oil company’s board, a huge loss for the once powerful company.

It is for the first time in modern history that America’s largest oil company has come across a credible provocation from an activist investor, Engine No. 1.

Distressed with Exxon’s financial show and its trailing in climate, the hedge fund aimed to oust four directors at the company’s annual shareholder meeting.

Engine No. 1 emerged victorious in two board seats in the shareholder vote.

The vote is an important milestone in the climate crisis because it’s the first proxy campaign at a large US company in which the factor for change was constructed around the switch from fossil fuels.

The ouster of at least two Exxon directors sends out a loud and clear message to other fossil fuel giants at a moment when the International Energy Agency has cautioned the world that it is required of them to stop drilling for oil and gas right now, to avoid a climate catastrophe.

Engine No. 1 has criticized Exxon’s unwillingness to vary into renewable energy and work to maximize oil production.