Yesterday I went to the Shell AGM to ask a question about their drilling in the Arctic. It was my first outing with the people from Fair Pensions who made it possible by arranging for a proxy in my name which enabled me to attend.If you don't know their work check out the website to find out more.
With others before me having argued the case against Arctic drilling, my question asked the board for a commitment that if there was a significant oil splill there, the Chairman would resign, the board would receive no bonuses and if anyone was forced to leave the company as a result, they would do so with no compensation - unlike Tony Hayward who was very well rewarded when he left BP after the Gulf disaster.What I got was a pointless bland reassurance that "the board are well aware of their responsibilities and take them very seriously".
As with my question, so with a stream of others about Nigeria, the Arctic, Alberta tar sands. Time and again a questioner raised points about how Shell had failed to protect the environment, ignored local communities, operated lax standards, etc. Time and again they were met with a response that Shell worked to the highest standards, took its responsibilities to the environment and local communities extremely seriously, was doing everything it possibly could in difficult circumstances. Always with a lack of specifics and as time went on a look of increasing boredom from the Chairman and impatience from the man answering most of the questions. They actually looked happy when a questioner turned out to be a pensioner berating them about the lack of dividend growth while the board's salaries had continued to race ahead.
I can't say that it was a particularly satisfactory process, particularly as it was all done by video-link with the board all in The Hague, but for companies this is the one day a year when they put themselves on the line to be questioned by their general shareholders (rather than the big institutional investors who get preferential access), so it's important to keep battering at their door and not let them get away with believing the world doesn't care what they do as long as it gets its oil and gas.
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