Gas company Woodside has displayed “breathtaking arrogance” at its Annual General Meeting today, disregarding the expertise of the United Nations, the International Energy Agency, investor groups and the climate concerns of the community, says Greenpeace Australia Pacific.
Woodside was assailed with a barrage of questions from shareholders, environmental groups and concerned community members at its chaotic AGM. The gas company, which is seeking to vastly increase its fossil fuel production in coming years, saw almost half of its shareholders vote against its climate report.
David Ritter, CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific said that Woodside’s leadership team displayed both breathtaking arrogance and a fundamental misunderstanding of the global energy transition.
“Woodside chair Richard Goyder seems to think his company, one of the world’s biggest fossil fuel producers, knows more about keeping the world’s climate trajectory under 1.5 degrees of warming than the United Nations,” he said.
“Woodside’s primary concern is rushing through expansion of the Burrup Hub, the most climate-polluting project currently proposed in Australia, and they’re prepared to bulldoze anyone in their way, disregarding shareholder and community concern as well as the expertise of the world’s leading climate and investment experts.”
“When grilled on their flimsy climate plan, Woodside’s leaders had no legitimate answers, because their business model rests solely on the aggressive expansion of fossil fuels. Woodside’s arrogant strategy is to deflect and dismiss anyone who questions them, even denigrating the expertise of the Climate 100, one of the world’s leading investment institutions.”
“Woodside chief Meg O’Neill went so far as to disregard the findings of a CSIRO report Woodside itself commissioned, finding that Woodside’s gas exports could delay the transition to renewables in Asia, at a time when the imperative to decarbonise has never been higher. This company seems to think it can flout climate science and deep community anxiety in pursuit of profit.”
At the Annual General Meeting held in Perth today, shareholders voted in favour of Woodside merging with petroleum behemoth BHP, making the merged entity one of the top ten fossil fuel producers in the world.
However, Woodside’s leadership dodged questions from the Australian Shareholders Association about timing of another advisory vote on its climate plan with information on the newly merged entity. The BHP merger will see shareholders saddled with $6.7 billion worth of decommissioning costs for fossil fuel infrastructure, according to a report Woodside released ahead of its London Stock Exchange listing.
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Read Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s Investor Briefing on Woodside