The Church of England has used its power as a shareholder to force an oil company to consider the environment at its next AGM.
It owns £5.8m worth of shares in Exxon Mobil, and has used its rights to trigger a discussion and vote about how the company's practices contribute to climate change.
Specifically, shareholders will be asked to debate and decide on how the company would be affected if governments around the world successfully implemented policies which would restrict global warming to no more than two degrees celsius - the agreed level at the Paris environmental summit last December.
Exxon Mobil legally challenged the Church of England's effort, but their challenge was rejected by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Edward Mason, from the Church Commissioners which manages the Church of England's £6.7bn investment portfolio, said: "We are delighted with the scale of support this resolution has received so far.
"The resolution is part of a much wider trend following the Paris Agreement for investors to ask companies to improve disclosure on how they are positioned for the risks and opportunities posed by climate change."
The AGM is on May 25th.
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Article by Aaron James
Tola Mbakwe is a multimedia journalist for Premier.
