BP HAS been forced by shareholder pressure into setting out how its business strategy is consistent with the Paris climate-change agreement.

The group of shareholders, which includes the Church Commissioners, pressured the oil company into accepting a resolution last Friday which will mean that it has to be more transparent about how its business fits in with the Paris agreement. It was co-ordinated by the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change.

Besides addressing whether the business strategy is consistent, the resolution also requires BP to set out “how the company evaluates the consistency of each new material capital investment with the goals of the Paris agreement”, and “related metrics and targets”.

The Church Commissioners’ head of responsible investment, Edward Mason, said on Monday: “This is a ground-breaking move on climate change from BP. We strongly welcome BP’s commitment to pursue a business and investment strategy consistent with the well below two-degrees goal of the Paris agreement.

“Clearly, we will want to interrogate carefully the company’s methodology for providing ongoing assurance of its fulfilment of this pledge, and will continue to participate in investor engagement.”