Major energy firm hit with leadership turmoil over surprising factor: 'Persistent investor concerns'

An unnamed investor in Woodside, an Australian energy company, is opposing the election of candidates to Woodside's board of directors.

Reuters reported that this is due to the company's neglect to address climate risks as well as a steady decline in investors' returns.

The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility also opposes this decision, stating in a release that "Woodside has significantly and chronically underperformed relative to the local market and the global oil and gas sector; 168% lower total shareholder returns (TSR) than the ASX100 and 83% lower than the MSCI World Energy over 15 years."

The ACCR said that the number of shareholders who voted against Woodside's Climate Transition Action Plan increased from 49% in 2021 to 58% in 2024 as well.

Both the investor and the ACCR advocate for voting against Ann Pickard, who has been the sustainability committee chair since 2017; Ben Wyatt, the current audit and risk committee chair; and Tony O'Neill, another member of the sustainability committee.

This dissent is important because it parallels how the world is slowly shifting.

Watch now: How bad is a gas stove for your home's indoor air quality?

Clean energy is not only good for the environment, but it reduces energy demands and healthcare costs. It's also possible that the U.S. could see as many as five million new jobs by 2050 in clean energy sectors.

While environmental, social, and governance investing does not have a perfectly clean history, there is no denying that focusing on the clean energy economy as the world progresses will bring benefits to all in many areas of our lives.

In regard to how Woodside should move forward, Alex Hillman, lead analyst of the ACCR, said in a press release, "[E]ffective corporate governance requires the right balance between support and challenge of management. Yet we see little evidence that Woodside's Board is providing the kind of rigorous oversight of management investors would expect, especially given the chronic underperformance and persistent investor concerns about climate risk."

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