Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmentalists, has put companies including Exxon Mobil Corp., General Motors and coal miner Massey Energy Co. on a “Climate Watch” list, citing concerns that the firms' long-term competitiveness could be hurt by their lack of action on climate change.
"For a company in a major emitting sector ... to not be thinking about how they are going to address a regulated environment creates red flags for investors," Mindy Lubber, the president of Ceres, told Reuters.
The group says ExxonMobil has been unresponsive to investor requests for a decade regarding strategies intended to meet growing demand for diversified clean energy sources.
Exxon spokesman Chris Welberry told Reuters that the company rejects the criticism and says it has led in energy efficiency investments to reduce emissions.
Ceres says it has a long “unsuccessful history of filing shareholder resolutions with General Motors.” The resolutions asked GM to set GHG reduction goals from its products and operations and cites GM's ongoing litigation to stop California's clean car standards from being adopted.
The Climate Watch lists companies in the electric power, coal, oil and gas, automotive as well as home building industries. For a full list of the companies click here.
Earlier this month, a coalition of faith-based investors representing over $100 billion announced they have compiled “climate risk profiles” of over 150 corporations, using data from an independent company.
