BP has excluded a valid shareholder resolution from the agenda of its annual general meeting (AGM). The British oil company also wishes to revoke climate commitments adopted at the 2015 and 2019 AGMs and which had been proposed by shareholders and approved by the board of directors at the time. Ethos therefore recommends voting against the re-election of the chairman of the board and against Resolution 23, which aims to remove these commitments. A strong signal, just days before the AGM.
The Ethos Foundation recommends that BP shareholders vote against the re-election of Albert Manifold as chairman of the board of directors at the AGM on 23 April (item 4 on the agenda). This recommendation follows the British company’s decision not to include on the agenda of its 2026 AGM a shareholder resolution submitted by the Dutch NGO Follow This and a coalition of international investors, including the Ethos Foundation and several of its members.
Ethos considers the decision by BP’s board of directors to be a serious infringement of shareholders’ fundamental rights, at a time when these rights are already under threat in several markets, notably in the United States. Follow This is exploring various legal avenues to compel BP to put this proposal to a vote at a future meeting.
Albert Manifold was appointed chairman of BP’s board of directors in October 2025, following the resignation of his predecessor. This is therefore the first time his election has been put to a shareholder vote. “As chairman, he bears direct responsibility for the decision not to include our resolution on the AGM agenda,” emphasises Vincent Kaufmann, CEO of the Ethos Foundation. “However, we are convinced that in the medium and long term, it is in the interests of all the company’s stakeholders, starting with the shareholders, to be able to rely on a chairman who respects the fundamental rights of shareholders.”
An unacceptable step backwards
A coalition of institutional investors representing over 1 trillion US dollars in assets filed a resolution that raised a fundamental question for the company’s future: how would BP intend to continue creating value in the event of a decline in global demand for oil and gas, particularly if the transition to renewable energy were to accelerate? Faced with the filing of the same resolution, Shell has agreed to put it to a shareholder vote at its AGM on 19 May 2026.
In addition, BP’s board of directors is also proposing to its shareholders that they revoke two climate-related resolutions which had been approved by a large majority – and supported at the time by the board – at the AGMs in 2015 and 2019. These two resolutions specifically required the company to publish more information regarding its climate strategy; which is essential for assessing the BP’s efforts in the energy transition. This includes, for example, the publication of investments in low-carbon energy and the alignment and resilience of the portfolio to the various scenarios of the International Energy Agency.
Ethos voting guidelines stipulate that it should oppose the re-election of the chair of a company with high greenhouse gas emissions that has not implemented a sufficiently convincing climate strategy. Therefore, going back on commitments approved by shareholders is unacceptable. Ethos recommends voting against this proposal (item 23).
