Investor leading climate talks with Equinor says it's time to sell out

One of the asset management companies that is co-leading the climate talks with Equinor, on behalf of over 600 investors, has said that it sold its shares because the board of the oil giant failed to align their strategy with the global goal of limiting the effects of global warming.

Sarasin & Partners, a British firm, helped to lead discussions with Equinor as part of Climate Action 100+, whose members encourage the largest listed corporations in the world to reduce their emissions.

In a letter dated March 14, the company was told that it failed to align its strategies with the Paris Agreement, despite the fact that they initially viewed Equinor's as a potential leader in the energy transformation who would "set the standard for the industry".

This landmark agreement, signed by many countries, including Equinor's Norway majority owner, aims to limit global temperature increases to no more than 2 degrees Celsius over the pre-industrial level by the mid-century period, and in the ideal case, to 1.5 degrees.

The letter to Equinor chairman Jon Erik Reinhardsen stated that despite making statements in support of such a path, "Equinor's strategy has not been revised to achieve these",

It said that Equinor, instead of leading the way in transition, had followed other oil-and-gas majors by rolling back their efforts, including lobbying for oil and natural gas production and cutting its renewable energy targets in February.

Sarasin filed a resolution with the board in 2024, asking Europe's largest natural gas supplier to align itself with a 1.5 degree pathway. The board successfully opposed it.

In a letter, the asset manager expressed concern about Equinor's claim that it had already adopted the 1.5 degree Celsius climate goal. It called the claims "uncredible".

It said: "It's clear from the public statements that Equinor assumes that it could align if world changes more quickly. But this is a fundamentally differing position than actually supporting a path like this today."

Sarasin reached its peak holding of around 9.5 millions shares in March 2024. It was then among the 20 largest investors in the company. In May, it started to reduce its position. It had approximately 3 million shares when it sold them in January. Reporting by Simon Jessop, London; Gwladys Fauché, Oslo. Editing by Kirby Donovan.

(source: Reuters)