Equinor ASA | Review guidelines and procedures for human rights due diligence assessments at Equinor ASA.

Status
AGM passed
AGM date
Previous AGM date
Proposal number
16
Resolution details
Company ticker
EQNR (previously Statoil)
Lead filer
Greenpeace
Resolution ask
Conduct due diligence, audit or risk/impact assessment
ESG theme
  • Social
ESG sub-theme
  • Human rights
Type of vote
Shareholder proposal
Filer type
Shareholder
Company sector
Energy
Company HQ country
Norway
Resolved clause
Shareholder Greenpeace has proposed the following resolution:
“To keep Equinor in alignment with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines on
Multinational Enterprises, and the Norwegian Transparency Act, and meet the expectation of the Norwegian Government
White Paper on ownership policy, the shareholders in the General Assembly ask the Company to review its guidelines and
procedures for human rights due diligence assessments (HRDD Procedures) to ensure sufficient due diligence on material
business relationships, in particular business cooperation with affiliated companies that serves to perpetuate Israel's
illegal presence in Palestine.
Where HRDD Procedures identify a business relationship with an actor that is causing, contributing to, or is directly linked
to serious human rights abuses or breaches of international law, or that goes against Norwegian Policy, shareholders
request that the Company take steps to perform a responsible exit from that relationship.”
Supporting statement
Shareholders welcome the Company’s commitment, in respect of its human rights efforts, to “strive for continuous
improvement in [its] performance and behaviour.” We support the Company’s acknowledgement that doing business with
actors implicated in serious human rights abuses and breaches of international law poses risks to the Company.
In a challenging geopolitical and security environment, shareholders have an interest in ensuring that the Company’s
processes to identify and act on such risk remain credible. This includes alignment with the UN Guiding principles on
Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, and relevant laws, policies and
recommendations by its majority shareholder, the Norwegian state.
The Norwegian government has previously advised companies against business cooperation perpetuating illegal Israeli
settlements, most recently in its strengthened advisory on business operations in Gaza, East-Jerusalem and the West
Bank (2024).
The Norwegian white paper on state ownership, Meld. St. 6 (2022–2023), sets out expectations for state owned
companies to respect human rights in their operations and throughout its supply chain.
Equinor is partnering with Ithaca Energy on the UK oil field Rosebank. Ithaca Energy is majority-owned by the Israeli
energy company Delek Group, which is listed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights as a company engaged in
business activities in Israeli occupations in Palestine that raise “particular human rights concerns.” Both the Norwegian
Government Pension Fund (Oljefondet) and Kommunal Landspensjonskasse (KLP), have excluded Delek Group from their
portfolio for similar reasons.
Israeli settlements in Palestine are in violation of public international law, and in 2024 the International Court of Justice
(ICJ) ruled that Israel's occupation of Gaza, the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is unlawful and should end
immediately.
Equinor’s partnership with Ithaca Energy entails that substantial revenues from the Rosebank field will accrue to Delek
Group – estimated at NOK 3.5 billion. Delek Group also supplies fuel to the Israeli military.
The collaboration with Ithaca Energy also raises questions about Equinor’s human rights due diligence under the
Norwegian Transparency Act. The law obliges Equinor to carry out due diligence assessments in order to prevent human
rights violations related to its operations and business relationships. The Norwegian Consumer Authority has launched an
investigation following a complaint from Greenpeace, which argues that Equinor has violated the Transparency Act by
failing to carry out such a due diligence assessment of its partner on the Rosebank field.

How other organisations have declared their voting intentions

Organisation nameDeclared voting intentionsRationale
VidaCaixaFor

DISCLAIMER: By including a shareholder resolution or management proposal in this database, neither the PRI nor the sponsor of the resolution or proposal is seeking authority to act as proxy for any shareholder; shareholders should vote their proxies in accordance with their own policies and requirements.

Any voting recommendations set forth in the descriptions of the resolutions and management proposals included in this database are made by the sponsors of those resolutions and proposals, and do not represent the views of the PRI.

Information on the shareholder resolutions, management proposals and votes in this database have been obtained from sources that are believed to be reliable, but the PRI does not represent that it is accurate, complete, or up-to-date, including information relating to resolutions and management proposals, other signatories’ vote pre-declarations (including voting rationales), or the current status of a resolution or proposal. You should consult companies’ proxy statements for complete information on all matters to be voted on at a meeting.