Finance
Proxy Adviser Iss Recommends Vote Against Bp Board Over Attempt to Scrap Some Climate Reporting
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 4, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 4, 2026
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ISS has urged shareholders to vote against BP’s board over its plan to revoke key climate reporting resolutions from 2015 and 2019 and to hold shareholder meetings exclusively online, calling the move unprecedented and inadequately justified.
ISS recommends vote against BP board's move to scrap some climate reporting
Proxy Adviser ISS Opposes BP Board's Climate Reporting Changes
By Shadia Nasralla
ISS Recommendation and Its Significance
LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - Influential proxy adviser Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) has recommended a vote against the BP board's move to revoke some previous climate reporting resolutions, according to a note seen by Reuters.
It is relatively rare for large shareholder advisory groups such as ISS, whose recommendations guide huge chunks of shareholder votes at annual general meetings, to ask investors to vote against the board's wishes.
BP Board's Proposal
BP's board has called for a vote at its April 23 meeting to retire two resolutions from 2015 and 2019 requiring company-specific climate reporting.
ISS Analysis and Rationale
"A particularly compelling argument would be required to justify such a legal revocation, which we believe is unprecedented in the UK context," ISS said in its analysis explaining the recommendation published late on Friday.
BP needs at least 75% shareholder support to scrap the commitments, which were approved with nearly 100% support at the time.
"We do not consider the Board's argument that the prior resolutions detract from the clarity of reporting and standardised disclosures to constitute a sufficiently compelling case to offset the concerns for 'retiring' the relevant disclosures," it said.
BP's Position on Climate Reporting
BP's board has said the requirements targeted by its proposal have largely been superseded by mandatory disclosure frameworks that provide more comparable data.
It would still report climate data according to broader frameworks such as the Task Force on climate-related Financial Disclosures and climate-related Financial Disclosure Regulations, the company has said.
Broader Context and Additional Recommendations
The recommendation by ISS follows a broadening climate campaign against BP by some European investors, representing less than 0.5% of the company's owners, which has been led by Dutch activist shareholder group Follow This.
ISS is also calling for shareholders to vote against a measure that would allow BP to hold online-only shareholder meetings.
(Reporting by Shadia Nasralla; Editing by Alison Williams and Joe Bavier)
Key Takeaways
- •ISS criticized BP’s proposal to retire two high-support climate reporting resolutions as lacking a “particularly compelling argument” and unprecedented in the UK context, urging investors to oppose it (standard.co.uk).
- •The two resolutions, passed with near-unanimous backing in 2015 and 2019, mandated company-specific climate disclosures such as emissions strategy, low‑carbon investment, and linking executive pay to climate performance (standard.co.uk).
- •ISS also opposed BP’s proposal for online-only shareholder meetings, highlighting concerns over diminished shareholder participation and transparency, in line with broader corporate governance principles (nortonrosefulbright.com)
References
Frequently Asked Questions about Proxy adviser ISS recommends vote against BP board over attempt to scrap some climate reporting
1What did ISS recommend regarding BP's climate reporting?
ISS recommended shareholders vote against the BP board's proposal to revoke certain climate reporting resolutions.
2Which previous BP resolutions are at risk of being revoked?
The resolutions from 2015 and 2019 requiring company-specific climate reporting are at risk of being revoked.
3Why does ISS oppose retiring BP's climate reporting resolutions?
ISS believes the board’s argument about clarity doesn't justify retiring established climate disclosures and calls the revocation unprecedented in the UK.
4What other BP proposal did ISS oppose?
ISS also opposed the proposal to allow BP to hold online-only shareholder meetings.
5Who reported on ISS's recommendations regarding BP?
The recommendations were reported by Shadia Nasralla and seen by Reuters.
