Woodside digs in amid investor protest vote over climate strategy

Former federal resources minister Ian Macfarlane has survived a strong push to eject him from Woodside’s board in protest at the company’s climate strategy, at an annual general meeting dominated by questions around the sustainability of oil and gas production.

Macfarlane, a board member for six years, had 35 per cent of shareholders vote against his re-election after he was targeted by investors and proxy advisers unimpressed with Woodside’s plans to cut emissions. In 2020, four of his colleagues were re-elected with a no vote of 3 per cent or less.

The ex-Coalition minister from Queensland may have had a worse result had chairman Richard Goyder not succumbed to pressure from activist investors two weeks ago and agreed to put Woodside’s climate strategy, which 49 per cent of shareholders rejected last year, to a non-binding vote in 2024.

Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility analyst Alex Hillman said that in the past decade, only one director had received less than 95 per cent support.

“This board has overseen a climate strategy that appears to ignore we are in the 21st century,” with too much reliance on offsetting emissions instead of reducing them, Hillman said.

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Chief executive Meg O’Neill said the federal government had emphasised the use of offsets in its recent changes to the safeguard mechanism that regulates industrial emissions. Goyder added that the government’s recent assessment of Australian carbon credits “absolutely validates the offsets that we’re using”.

O’Neill said after the AGM that she thought the overwhelming 99 per cent vote last year for Woodside doubling its size by buying BHP’s petroleum division showed support for the $64 billion company’s strategy.

She said the vote against the climate strategy merely meant “they [shareholders] wanted more clarity” on the plan.