The Coalition United for a Responsible Exxon
(“
CURE”) was launched today with an open letter in
support of meaningful change at ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM)
(“
Exxon” or the “
Company”). CURE
represents a broad a spectrum of stakeholders focused on
sustainability who are committed to delivering long-term returns
that account for the realities of a changing energy sector. As of
today, CURE’s over 135 members collectively represent over $2.2
trillion in assets. More details on the coalition can be found at
CURExxon.org.
In the letter, CURE raises urgent concerns about Exxon’s current
direction, which is premised on outdated assumptions about high oil
prices, demand, and margins that are incompatible with the reality
of climate change and the inevitable transition to renewable energy
sources. Once the most innovative leader in the industry and a
pillar of the Dow Jones, Exxon today finds itself lagging behind
other oil majors that have adapted their strategies to lead the
global energy transition. The CURE letter comes after Exxon
reported historic financial losses in 2020, marked by a $19 billion
write-down of assets and shrinking operational cash flows, a sign
of a company in disarray.
The coalition urgently demands change at Exxon, beginning with
the Board, and a new commitment to a financially, competitively,
and environmentally sustainable future for the Company, its
shareholders, and all stakeholders.
Under its current strategy, Exxon continues to strand assets by
making massive capital investments in upstream projects that
destroy shareholder value. The Company rationalizes these
investment decisions through unrealistic expectations of future oil
and gas prices and demand. Exxon’s poor decision-making has led to
the highest debt levels in the Company’s history, with the worst
operational net-debt-to-cash ratio among its peers. Exxon’s
operational inefficiencies are also exacting a toll on
profitability.
CURE argues that structural change is needed at Exxon, rather
than the patchwork of minor adjustments put forth on its February 2
earnings call, and that these piecemeal, cosmetic half-steps to
stave off real change are too little, too late. Further, the
coalition believes that shareholders should not find the Company’s
proposal to potentially invest $600 million per year on carbon
capture and sequestration technology credible, after it “delayed
indefinitely” its leading carbon-capture project just ten months
ago.
Exxon’s current myopic and entrenched Board and leadership team
are not equipped to undertake the change necessary to turn around
the Company’s decline over the last decade. Nearly every senior
leader has spent his or her entire career inside of Exxon, and
until February 2, the Company did not have any independent
directors with energy industry experience on its Board. Further,
Exxon lags its peers in transparency and has consistently resisted
efforts by shareholders for greater disclosure, especially related
to the sustainability of its operations. This only makes it more
difficult for shareholders to know how the business is performing
on metrics that matter to the Company’s owners.
Finally, Exxon’s record of emissions and safety failures is far
worse than other energy majors – a gap that has grown in recent
years. There are currently over 20 lawsuits in process alleging
that the Company deliberately promoted a misinformation campaign
calling climate change a hoax.
Given the substantial risk to Exxon’s dividend and competitive
viability, the members of CURE have come together to advocate for
refreshed leadership and a new vision for the future at Exxon.
The text of the letter follows:
Coalition United for a Responsible Exxon
(CURE)
February 2, 2021
Exxon Mobil Corporation5959 Las Colinas BoulevardIrving, TX
75039
Dear ExxonMobil Board of Directors:
The undersigned are a group of ExxonMobil Corporation (“Exxon”
or the “Company”) stakeholders, including Seattle City Employees’
Retirement System, Dana Investment Advisors, and Members of the
Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, that have been
disappointed with Exxon’s lack of financial performance, poor
capital allocation decisions and failure to capitalize on business
opportunity of the clean energy transition. Together, we are the
Coalition United for a Responsible Exxon (CURE) and represent 138
organizations that collectively manage more than $2.27 trillion in
assets.
For many years, Exxon has ignored both the desires of its key
stakeholders and the financial risks and opportunities of the
transition happening in energy markets toward cleaner, more
sustainable forms of energy. This is no longer tenable for current
shareholders, all stakeholders, the financial future of the
Company, and future generations. Exxon has lost $250 billion in
market value since 2014, was removed from the Dow Jones where it
had been a "blue chip" since 1928, and has lost 25% of its
market-cap over the past 12 months. Without a change in leadership,
the Company is positioned for much greater losses in the
future.
As key stakeholders in Exxon, we urge the Company to embrace
change with the ingenuity and rigorous analysis for which it was
once known, ensuring that Exxon will not only survive, but will
lead through this inevitable transition. In years past, Exxon led
the world and was the most valuable company on the planet. But no
longer.
Change is required.
We are pleased to see three shareholders – D.E. Shaw, the
California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS), and Engine
No. 1 – urge the Company to reform its priorities and operating
goals, with an eye toward much-improved financial performance,
responsible growth in the clean energy transition, and improved
environmental stewardship. We hope the Company will address these
concerns substantively and engage with those owners, CURE, and all
stakeholders, with an earnest desire to improve Exxon for the
benefit of all.
We intend to offer our views, both publicly and privately, to
drive Exxon to become a responsible energy company – one that all
of its stakeholders, as well as our children and future
generations, can be both proud of and benefit from. We would be
pleased to meet to discuss the steps we believe Exxon should take
to leapfrog its peers and move to a sustainable business model with
long-term competitive advantages. Exxon should again lead the
world.
Sincerely,
Coalition United for a Responsible Exxon (CURE)
Coalition Members
Aargauische Pensionskasse (APK)Adasina Social CapitalAdrian
Dominican Sisters, Portfolio Advisory BoardAlign ImpactArio
AdvisoryArjuna CapitalAs You SowATISA Personalvorsorgestiftung der
Tschümperlin-UnternehmungenBernische
LehrerversicherungskasseBernische Pensionskasse (BPK)Bon Secours
Mercy HealthBroad Reach FundCaisse Cantonale d'Assurance Populaire
(CCAP)Caisse de pension du Comité international de la
Croix-RougeCaisse de pension Hewlett-Packard PlusCaisse de pensions
de l'Etat de Vaud (CPEV)Caisse de pensions du personnel communal de
Lausanne (CPCL)Caisse de pensions ECA-RPCaisse de prév. des
Fonctionnaires de Police & des Etablissements
PénitentiairesCaisse de Prévoyance de l'Etat de Genève CPEGCaisse
de Prévoyance des Interprètes de Conférence (CPIC)Caisse de
prévoyance du personnel communal de la ville de FribourgCaisse de
prévoyance du personnel de l'Etat de Fribourg (CPPEF)Caisse de
prévoyance du personnel de l'Etat du Valais (CPVAL)Caisse
intercommunale de pensions (CIP)Caisse paritaire de prévoyance de
l'industrie et de la construction (CPPIC)CAP PrévoyanceCERN Pension
FundCaisse Inter-Entreprises de Prévoyance Professionnelle
(CIEPP)Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment of
the Presbyterian Church U.S.A.CommonSpirit HealthConfluence
PhilanthropyCongregation of St. JosephCoreCommodity Management,
LLCDana Investment AdvisorsDaughters of Charity, Province of St.
LouiseDwight Hall Socially Responsible Investment Fund at
YaleEtablissement Cantonal d'Assurance (ECA VAUD)Ethos Foundation,
SwitzerlandFigure 8 Investment StrategiesImpact Capital
StrategiesImpact InvestorsIndividualInterfaith Center on Corporate
ResponsibilityJLens Investor NetworkJonas PhilanthropiesJSA
Sustainable Wealth ManagementLuzerner PensionskasseMajority
ActionManaakiMerck Family FundMercy Investment Services,
Inc.Miller/Howard Investments, Inc.Nathan Cummings
FoundationNatural InvestmentsNest SammelstiftungNewground Social
InvestmentNorth Berkeley Wealth ManagementFondation de la
métallurgie vaudoise du bâtiment (FMVB)Fondation de prévoyance
Artes & ComoediaFondation de prévoyance des Paroisses et
Institutions Catholiques (FPPIC) |
Fondation de prévoyance du Groupe BNP PARIBAS en SuisseFondation
Interprofessionnelle Sanitaire de Prévoyance (FISP)Fondation
LeenaardsFondation PatrimoniaFonds de Prévoyance de CA Indosuez
(Suisse) SAFonds interprofessionnel de prévoyance (FIP)Franciscan
Sisters of Allegany NYFulcrum Asset ManagementGebäudeversicherung
LuzernGebäudeversicherung St. GallenGood Capital Investment
GroupGreen AmericaGreenFaithHexavestPensionskasse
Römisch-katholische Landeskirche des Kantons LuzernPensionskasse
ARPensionskasse Bank CIC (Schweiz)Pensionskasse
Basel-StadtPensionskasse Bühler AG UzwilPensionskasse
CaritasPensionskasse der Basler KantonalbankPensionskasse der Stadt
WinterthurPensionskasse Pro InfirmisPensionskasse
SchaffhausenPensionskasse SRG SSRPensionskasse Stadt
LuzernPensionskasse Stadt St. GallenPensionskasse
UniaPersonalvorsorgekasse der Stadt BernPrévoyance Santé Valais
(PRESV)prévoyance.neProfelia Fondation de prévoyanceProsperita
Stiftung für die berufliche VorsorgeProvidence St. Joseph
HealthProxy ImpactRegion VI Coalition for Responsible
InvestmentRentes GenevoisesRP - Fonds institutionnelSchool Sisters
of Notre Dame Cooperative Investment FundSeattle City Employees’
Retirement SystemSecunda SammelstiftungSeventh Generation
Interfaith Inc.Sierra Club FoundationSignet Strategic Wealth
Management, Inc.Sisters of Bon Secours USASisters of Mary
ReparatrixSisters of St. Francis o PhiladelphiaSisters of St.
Francis-DubuqueSisters of the Presentation of the BVM of Aberdeen
SDSocial Justice Committee, UU Congregation at Shelter RockSocially
Responsible Investment CoalitionSRI Investing LLCSt. Galler
PensionskasseStiftung AbendrotSVA ZürichTerre des hommes SchweizThe
Prentice FoundationTHE VELUX FOUNDATIONSUnfallversicherungskasse
des Basler StaatspersonalsUniversité de Genève (UNIGE)US
TrustValuesAdvisorVerein Barmherzige Brüder von Maria-Hilf
(Schweiz)Vorsorge SERTOWallace Global Fund |
About the Coalition United for a Responsible
Exxon
The Coalition United for a Responsible Exxon (“CURE”) represents
a global spectrum of stakeholders focused on sustainability and
committed to delivering long-term returns that account for the
realities of a changing climate and energy sector. As of January
26, 2021, CURE brings together over 135 institutional members, who
collectively represent more than $2 trillion in assets. For more
information, please visit CURExxon.org.
Media Contact
Dan Gagnier / Jeffrey MathewsGagnier
Communications+1-646-569-5897CURExxon@gagnierfc.com
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