Australian gas producer Santos Ltd said on Thursday that shareholders had asked the company to publish an annual climate report, as energy companies face increasing scrutiny over their commitment to battle climate change.
The request, put forward by shareholders representing less than 0.01% of Santos' shares, would require an amendment to the constitution of the country's second largest independent gas producer and an annual shareholder vote on the adoption of the report. (https://bit.ly/3tLL37R)
Santos said that it did not consider the changes to be necessary and in the interest of shareholders because it already published an annual climate report consistent with the guidelines of the G20 taskforce on climate-related financial disclosures.
"Management remuneration is also linked to the company's emission reduction targets and shareholders are already able to vote on adoption of management remuneration at the Annual General Meeting," the company said.
The company had been similarly dismissive of a shareholder request last week to report annually how its capital expenditure and operations would be managed in a way that was consistent with the Paris Agreement to combat climate change.
Last week, rival Woodside Petroleum had also received a shareholder request to disclose details on how the company's operations were consistent with the Paris goals.
Santos said the notice of meeting, due in March, would include all the resolutions to be considered at the annual general meeting on April 15, along with voting recommendations.
(Reporting by Arundhati Dutta in Bengaluru; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel)
