Azzad commends Chevron’s work on Myanmar

Activist investors withdraw human rights shareholder resolution following ‘constructive dialogue’ Falls Church, Virginia, April 11, 2019 — A coalition of socially responsible investors led by Azzad Asset Management announced today that it has withdrawn a shareholder resolution filed with Chevron Corporation. The proposal pushed the energy giant to evaluate its business with governments engaged in conflict areas. This announcement follows a years-long dialogue between concerned stakeholders and the oil and gas company, which has operations globally, including in regions experiencing internal strife. The resolution, which was filed by Azzad for a third time last year, asks Chevron to evaluate a policy of cutting ties with governments engaged in genocide or crimes against humanity. It cites specifically the nation of Myanmar (Burma), whose military stands accused of committing atrocities against the Rohingya ethnic minority. Preferring instead a policy of engagement with local government and civil society, Chevron responded to shareholders with a set of initiatives and specific actions the company has undertaken or planned to undertake aimed at addressing the humanitarian crisis. Among other things, these include engaging with political leaders on U.S.-Myanmar policy, training representatives of private security companies on what Chevron expects of them by way of a commitment to respecting

April 11, 2019 No Comments

Chevron shareholders vote on cutting business ties with genocide-complicit governments

Chevron shareholders voted today on a resolution to evaluate a policy of cutting business ties with governments engaged in genocide or crimes against humanity. Filed by seven socially responsible investing organizations, the proposal cites specifically the nation of Myanmar, whose military stands accused of committing atrocities against the Rohingya ethnic minority. Chevron is the largest U.S. corporate investor in Myanmar (Burma). In partnership with Total of France and the government-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE), Chevron owns the Yadana gas field and pipeline that generates billions of dollars in revenue for the government of Myanmar. In March 2015, Chevron entered into an additional production sharing contract with MOGE to explore in the Rakhine Basin off the coast of Rakhine state, the historic home of the Rohingya people. The vote comes amid reports of a worsening campaign by the Myanmar military to kill or drive out ethnic minorities. The U.S. State Department’s International Religious Freedom Report, released yesterday, finds that an estimated 688,000 Muslim Rohingya have fled the country and that an unknown number are internally displaced. See: International Religious Freedom Report for 2017 (U.S. Department of State) The State Department report also describes a new campaign of state-sanctioned violence against the

May 30, 2018 No Comments

Shareholders press Chevron to assess feasibility of policy change in light of Rohingya crisis

Burma-focused proposal asks Chevron to evaluate a policy of not doing business with governments engaging in genocide or crimes against humanity Falls Church, Va., Dec 18, 2017 – A group of investors has filed for the second time a shareholder resolution with Chevron Corporation focused on the persecuted Rohingya minority in Burma (Myanmar). The proposal asks the energy giant to report on the feasibility of enacting a policy of not doing business with governments engaged in genocide or crimes against humanity. Azzad Asset Management filed the resolution, and at least four other socially responsible investment institutions co-filed. Azzad and the Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk filed a version of this resolution last year. For 2018, it was updated to take into account the heightened atrocities and the resulting mass exodus of Rohingya from Myanmar over the summer and fall. To date, this is the only shareholder resolution focused on the Rohingya submitted to a U.S. corporation. Through its subsidiary Unocal Myanmar Offshore Co., Ltd., Chevron entered into a production sharing contract with the state-owned Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE) in 2015 to explore for oil and gas in the Rakhine Basin. Rakhine state was until recently the home of most of Burma’s

December 18, 2017 No Comments

Stakeholders press energy companies doing business with Myanmar to address Rohingya crisis

Investors with more than $53 billion in assets sign letters calling for an end to ‘business as usual’ in light of military crackdown Falls Church, Va., 10/23/17 — A group of investors and stakeholders has called on energy companies doing business in Myanmar/Burma to reassess their dealings in light of that country’s brutal military crackdown on its ethnic Rohingya minority. Organized by the International Campaign for the Rohingya and Azzad Asset Management, letters signed by 31 investor organizations representing more than $53 billion in assets under management were sent to executives at six oil and gas companies, emphasizing the serious risks of doing business with the Myanmar regime. Commodities make up a majority of Myanmar’s exports and are often controlled in whole or part by the armed forces. Simon Billenness, Executive Director of the International Campaign for the Rohingya said, “Corporations that do business in Burma are supporting a government engaged in ethnic cleansing and possibly even genocide against the Rohingya. The oil companies in Burma must take affirmative steps to avoid complicity in these crimes against humanity.” In addition to citing the moral obligation to address the humanitarian situation in Myanmar, the letters express concern about the potential risks to investments in the country as well as harm

October 23, 2017 No Comments

Chevron shareholders vote on business with genocide-complicit governments

Falls Church, Va., 5/31/17 — Shareholders of energy giant Chevron voted today on a proposal for the company to evaluate a policy of no longer doing business with countries believed to be complicit in genocide. The proposal focuses on the nation of Myanmar/Burma, whose military is accused of committing atrocities against the Rohingya ethnic minority. Because the vote tally was greater than three percent in favor, U.S. Securities and Exchange (SEC) rules allow the resolution to be resubmitted next year. Preliminary estimates showed that six percent of shareholders voted for the resolution, according to International Campaign for the Rohingya Executive Director Simon Billenness, who moved the resolution at the Chevron annual general meeting today on behalf of lead filers Azzad Asset Management and the Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk, U.S. Province. According to SEC requirements, to resubmit resolutions in subsequent years after an initial filing, the proposal must win the support of at least three percent of the shares voted in its first year, six percent in its second, and 10 percent in its third year and all years thereafter. “We are encouraged by the results of today’s vote, but more work remains,” said Azzad President and CEO Bashar Qasem. “It

May 31, 2017 No Comments

Buy stock. Save the world.

We’ve been talking a lot about shareholder advocacy at Azzad recently–and about how it’s a largely untapped way for concerned citizens to take action on issues we care about. For those who aren’t familiar with it, shareholder advocacy refers to actions taken by stock investors (shareholders) to ask the companies whose stock they own to improve or change behavior for the public good. Think of asking an energy company to use more renewables or a technology company to end purchases of conflict minerals. If you invest in stocks, you can participate in shareholder advocacy. We recently used shareholder advocacy to take action on an issue many people feel isn’t getting the attention it should – the human rights abuses faced by the Rohingya minority in Burma at the hands of its government. In November 2016, the United Nations said that abuses perpetrated against the Rohingya by the Burmese military may amount to crimes against humanity. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum has reported that the Rohingya are “at grave risk of additional mass atrocities and even genocide.” During the fall filing season, Azzad partnered with a Catholic religious organization, the Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk, to file the first shareholder resolution submitted

December 30, 2016 No Comments

First shareholder resolution on Rohingya presses Chevron on business ties to Burma government

Resolution asks oil giant to halt business with regimes engaged in genocide or crimes against humanity Falls Church, Va., 12/12/16 – A socially responsible investment firm and a Roman Catholic international religious congregation announced today that they have filed the first shareholder resolution focused on the persecuted Burmese Rohingya minority, calling on California-based Chevron Corporation to evaluate a policy of not doing business with governments that are believed to be engaged in genocide or crimes against humanity. Filed by Azzad Asset Management and the Ursuline Sisters of Tildonk, U.S. Province, the proposed resolution urges the oil giant to halt its relationship with the government of Burma (Myanmar) until that country ends the state-sanctioned violence against its Rohingya minority. It is the first time a shareholder resolution focused on the Rohingya has been submitted to a U.S. corporation. The proposal was prepared in consultation with the International Campaign for the Rohingya and is expected to be voted on by stockholders at the Chevron annual meeting in May 2017. It describes the recent violence by Burma’s army against the ethnic Rohingya people in Rakhine state in western Burma. Through its subsidiary Unocal Myanmar Offshore Co., Ltd., Chevron entered into a production sharing

December 12, 2016 No Comments