A group of investors with combined assets of over $200 billion filed shareholder resolutions on Wednesday with ten energy companies, including Exxon Mobil and Southern Co, demanding they disclose their strategies for competing in a lower-carbon future. Led by the New York State Comptroller's office, which alone handles $160 billion in assets, the investors focused on the companies' "carbon asset risk," or the potential for their carbon-intensive assets to lose value as market forces and potential regulation threaten demand for fossil fuels and related infrastructure.The move is part of an ongoing effort by some major institutional investors, coordinated by the sustainability advocacy group Ceres and the Investor Network on Climate Risk, that is focused on holding companies accountable for these so-called "stranded assets."The activists have been asking companies whose fortunes are linked to fossil fuels to assess under both a business-as-usual and a low-carbon scenario the risk of stranded assets and the physical risk from the impacts of climate change."The energy companies we invest in need to go back to the drawing board to determine the long-term financial risks that climate change poses to their business plans," said New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
Exxon Mobil Corporation is a manufacturer and marketer of commodity petrochemicals, including olefins, aromatics, polyethylene and polypropylene plastics and a range of specialty products. Shares of XOM traded higher by 1.05% or $0.95/share to $91.79. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $84.79 and as high as $101.74. On average, 12444300 shares of XOM exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 1353559.
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