Resolved clauseThe shareholders request the Board to publish a report six months following the 2022 annual general meeting, omitting proprietary information and prepared at reasonable cost, evaluating the feasibility of adopting a policy of not doing business with governments that are complicit in genocide and/or crimes against humanity as defined in international law
Whereas clauseChevron, in partnership with Total, PTT, and Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), holds equity in one of the largest investment projects in Myanmar (Burma): the Yadana gas field and pipeline that has generated billions of dollars for the Myanmar military junta. Together, Total and Chevron have a majority controlling interest in Yadana project. In Myanmar, foreign participation in the energy sector takes place through joint ventures with the MOGE, which is a department of the Myanmar government. Since it seized power in the February l5t, 2021, coup d’etat, the Myanmar military now holds total control over MOGE. The United States and United Kingdom have imposed sanctions against Myanmar military-owned companies . A bipartisan group of senators have urged the US administration to place sanctions on MOGE. The Myanmar military has a long history of egregious human rights abuses, particularly against ethnic minorities. In August 2017, a military crackdown caused an estimated more than 700,000 Rohingya to flee to neighboring Bangladesh where they remain to this day. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has reported that the Rohingya remain at grave risk of additional mass atrocities and even genocide. Nicholas Koumjian, head of the United Nations Independent Investigative Mechanism for Myanmar, stated in November 2021, that preliminary evidence collected since the military coup shows a widespread and systematic attack on civilians amounting to crimes against humanity. The National Unity Government of Myanmar, made up of elected officials and civil society leaders, has called on the oil companies operating in Myanmar to withhold from the military junta and place in escrow any payments due to the Myanmar government. Since the February 2021 military coup, the Blood Money Campaign by Myanmar and international civil society organizations has organized protests, consumer boycotts, and media pressure against companies, including Chevron, that provide financial support to the military junta. In addition, dozens of oil workers in Myanmar have petitioned oil companies to suspend payments to the ruling junta. The International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect (ICRtoP) monitors countries worldwide for instances of serious crimes under international law including genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and crimes against humanity. ICRtoP lists several countries, cited by the United Nations and civil society organizations, in which Chevron is currently producing oil and gas: Burma (Myanmar), Democratic Republic of Congo, and Nigeria.
Supporting statementAs shareholders, we believe that our company has the duty to avoid the moral, legal, financial, reputational, and operational risks posed by doing business with governments complicit in genocide and/or crimes against humanity. It is incumbent that our board adopt policies that protect shareholder value from these risks.