Greenhouse Gas Reduction - Science-Based Targets

2016 – Marathon Petroleum

 

 

RESOLVED: Shareholders request that the Board of Directors adopt quantitative goals, based on current technologies, for reducing total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the company's products and operations; and that the Company report to shareholders by fall 2016 on its plans (omitting proprietary information and prepared at reasonable cost) to achieve these goals. 

 

Supporting Statement:  In September 2013, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s leading scientific authority on climate change, released its fifth assessment report concluding that human-caused "warming of the climate system is unequivocal," with many of the impacts of warming already "unprecedented over decades to millennia." 

 

In order to mitigate the worst impacts of climate change, the IPCC estimates that a 50 percent reduction in GHG emissions globally is needed by 2050 (relative to 1990 levels). Furthermore, in its 2012 Annual Energy Outlook, the International Energy Agency (IEA) states, “No more than one-third of proven reserves of fossil fuels can be consumed prior to 2050 if the world is to achieve the 2°C goal...” 

 

Over 40 national and 20 sub-national government jurisdictions have either implemented or are considering independent carbon pricing mechanisms. The new Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Standards set new targets for automotive fuel efficiency, and is projected to reduce oil use by more than two million barrels a day in 2025, and the adoption of low carbon fuel standards in California and Oregon, will prompt development of a new generation of fuels that will be economically and environmentally more sustainable.

 

The economic, business and societal impacts of climate change are of paramount importance to investors. Investors with $87 trillion in assets have supported CDP’s request to over 6,000 companies for disclosure of carbon emissions, reduction goals, and climate change strategies to address these risks.

 

While over half of S&P 500 companies have set GHG emission reduction targets which can drive innovation and enhance shareholder value, our company lags behind. A study of 386 U.S. companies in the S&P 500 by CDP found that 79% of companies “earn a higher return on their carbon reduction investments than on their overall corporate capital investments,” and that energy efficiency improvements earned an average return on investment of 196%, with an average payback period between two and three years. Furthermore, CDP reports “High emitting companies that set absolute emissions reduction targets achieved reductions double the rate of those without targets with 10% higher firm-wide profitability.”

 

We recommend the company consider renewable energy procurement (and adopting related targets) as a strategy to achieve its emission reduction goals. Using renewable energy can reduce regulatory risk related to GHG emissions, financial risk by decreasing volatility of energy prices, and overall expenditure on energy.

 

Creating clear-cut goals will help our company to significantly reduce its carbon footprint by implementing a disciplined business strategy to cut emissions from its operations and products.