LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - BP (BP.L) , opens new tab activist investor Follow This plans to call for a vote against Chair Helge Lund's reappointment at its April 17 shareholder meeting, claiming he should have offered investors a say on scrapping energy transition targets.

In a strategy revamp in February, CEO Murray Auchincloss said BP would slash spending on renewables and boost investment in oil and gas, an overhaul of the group's 2020 strategy which had foreseen a 40% cut to its oil and gas output by 2030.

Sign up here.

Shareholders have not been offered a direct vote on the new strategy, which is Follow This's main point of critique.

Follow This, which won 20% support for its climate resolutions at BP's 2021 annual general meeting and 17% in 2023, this year swapped filing a resolution for urging a vote against Lund on governance grounds.

"We don't want the chair to resign," the group said in a statement on Thursday. "We want him to heed the message that he has crossed a governance line and retrace his steps by offering shareholders a vote."

A BP spokesperson said: "We engage extensively across our shareholder base – and have done so following 26 February. Based on our engagement, the majority of shareholders are not calling for an advisory vote on our plans.

"In the meantime, we will continue to engage and provide disclosure on our plans through our annual reporting materials. Our ambition remains to be a net zero company by 2050 or sooner."

More than 88% of the group's shareholders backed former CEO Bernard Looney's plan to cut oil and gas output and invest billions in renewable power at a 2022 vote offered by BP.

Most of these goals have been all but dropped, raising complaints from other shareholders that they were not given a say.

A group of investors with around 5 trillion pounds ($6.48 trillion) under management or engagement sent a public letter to Lund in February to demand a vote on BP’s approach to climate governance and capital expenditure.

While climate-focused investors are unhappy at BP abandoning most of Looney's plans, BP's share price has shown that the 2020 strategy had failed to convince a broader investor base.

Over the last five years, BP's shares have risen around 88%, while Exxon (XOM.N) , opens new tab had soared 246% and Shell (SHEL.L) , opens new tab 168% as of Wednesday.

Pressure is also rising since Elliott Management, which has led campaigns at companies including Marathon Petroleum (MPC.N) , opens new tab, Hess (HES.N) , opens new tab and Honeywell (HON.O) , opens new tab, built a near 5% stake to become one of BP's largest shareholders, Reuters has reported, citing sources.

($1 = 0.7718 pounds)

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/bp-activist-investor-follow-this-urges-vote-against-chair-lund-over-energy-2025-03-20/