Activist investor against Woodside directors' election due to climate concerns

(Reuters) -An activist investor is opposing the election of directors at an upcoming annual general meeting of Australian energy major Woodside Energy, citing poor returns and the company's failures in managing climate risks.

The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR) said on Thursday that Woodside continues to follow a high-cost, high-carbon and low-value strategy that has led to its financial underperformance.

Woodside's total shareholder returns over the past 15 years have been 168% lower than the ASX100 and 83% lower than the MSCI World Energy, indicating significant underperformance against both local and global markets, the activist investor said.

ACCR said the firm failed to respond to investor feedback on climate risk management with 58% of shareholders voting against the Climate Transition Action Plan in 2024, marking the world's first majority vote against a company's climate plan.

The activist investor recommends voting against Woodside directors Ann Pickard, the sustainability committee chair; Ben Wyatt, the current chair of the audit and risk committee; and Tony O'Neill, a sustainability committee member.

Woodside is reviewing the activist group's member statement, a company spokesperson said in an emailed response to Reuters.

"We consider the perspectives of all our shareholders as part of our decision-making."

(Reporting by Adwitiya Srivastava and Sneha Kumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Mohammed Safi Shamsi and Mrigank Dhaniwala)