Sabrina Valle

HOUSTON (Reuters] Occidental Petroleum Corp shareholders voted no to a proposal of Follow This, an activist investor group. The plan would have extended the company’s carbon emissions reduction goals.

More than 80% shareholders supported the recommendation of the board to maintain current U.S. chemical and oil producer commitments, at the annual meeting held on Friday.

Shareholder pressure has been mounting on oil majors to reduce carbon emissions in order to reach the Paris Agreement climate goals. These targets aim to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius. Investors aren’t willing to accept proposals that could harm business, as Friday’s vote shows.

Vicki Hollub, Chief Executive Officer of the company said that there is a fundamental disagreement between them about what Paris alignment means.

Following This is a Dutch climate activist who asked Occidental for quantitative targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.

Mark van Baal is the group’s founder. He stated that oil companies should reduce emissions by 40%, and that Occidental does not have any commitments to do so.

Occidental’s board stated that investors are already aware of its commitment to Paris and to net zero emissions by 2020. There are 14 metrics to help reduce the emissions generated from operations and products.

Occidental believes carbon sequestration, direct air capture technology and direct air capture will be the best ways to offset harmful emissions from oil, gas and chemical production. It has also set emission reduction targets for its products.