By now, it\u2019s no secret: insurance companies can play a key role in helping the world steer away from mounting climate catastrophe by refusing to underwrite the expansion of dirty oil, gas and coal infrastructure. That\u2019s why climate advocates, environmental justice organizers and concerned stakeholders have been escalating their demands on big insurers to stop propping up the fossil fuel industry and all its associated climate and financial risks.<\/p>\n
Few insurance corporations are bigger, and have more of a responsibility to act on climate, than Liberty Mutual. That\u2019s why it\u2019s so alarming that Liberty Mutual board member Joseph \u201cJay\u201d Hooley just became<\/a> the new Lead Director of ExxonMobil, perhaps the most powerful Big Oil supermajor on the planet. <\/p>\n ExxonMobil is one of the largest fossil fuel companies in the world. It is directly responsible for driving our global climate catastrophe as well for actively stalling climate progress for decades. Hooley joined ExxonMobil\u2019s board of directors at the beginning<\/a> of 2020 \u2014 and now, as ExxonMobil\u2019s Lead Director, he is moving up the ranks to lead that board and oversee the governance of one of Big Oil\u2019s top multinational powerhouses. <\/p>\n In this new role, Hooley will be responsible for ensuring that ExxonMobil continues to rake in profits from its core business of oil and gas extraction and production for decades to come. He will also continue to earn compensation that gives him a personal financial interest in seeing ExxonMobil\u2019s business boom. Hooley currently owns<\/a> 13,000 shares of ExxonMobil \u2014 worth well over $1 million \u2014 and his stake in the company is only set to grow. Hooley has a clear personal financial interest in seeing the company\u2019s core business expand.<\/p>\n All this presents a grave conflict for Liberty Mutual, where as a board member, Hooley is in charge of governing the insurance powerhouse as it navigates a future of climate chaos and climate risk. While not nearly sufficient, Liberty Mutual has made gestures around climate by, for example, limiting insurance coverage for some coal-intensive companies and pledging a 50% reduction of Scope 1 and 2 global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. Hooley\u2019s governing role and financial interest in a global Big Oil powerhouse raises major concern over whether he can help guide Liberty Mutual through even these minor commitments, let alone toward the much bigger commitments that stakeholders and advocates demand.<\/p>\n Moreover, Hooley\u2019s oil and gas ties are just the most egregious of several other climate conflicts on Liberty Mutual\u2019s board, with well over half of the company\u2019s board having personal financial ties and governing and executive responsibilities tied to fossil fuel interests and extractive industries.<\/p>\n All this presents a stark conflict at the heart of Liberty Mutual\u2019s governance: how are board directors like Hooley supposed to responsibly guide one of the world\u2019s biggest insurance companies through the demands of the climate crisis while simultaneously governing over and personally profiting from the expansion of climate-destroying fossil fuel operations?<\/p>\n Jay Hooley became ExxonMobil\u2019s new lead director<\/a> following the annual stakeholder meeting on May 25th, 2022. In this role, Hooley will be the most powerful non-executive member of Exxon\u2019s board, which oversees the entirety of the corporation\u2019s affairs. He will practically be running the show for ExxonMobil\u2019s governing body. <\/p>\n Hooley\u2019s responsibilities<\/a> will include engaging with shareholders, setting the agendas for and chairing executive sessions, and leading the annual performance evaluation of the board, among other key functions. <\/p>\n In serving as ExxonMobil\u2019s lead director, Hooley will be guiding a company dedicated to expanding its oil and gas production and promoting climate denialism to stall climate action.<\/p>\n ExxonMobil is one of the world\u2019s most powerful and influential corporations. The company raked in over $14 billion in profits<\/a> in just the last two quarters, and it has pledged<\/a> to leverage those profits into billions of dollars worth of stock buybacks. In the US, Exxon is expanding<\/a> its oil and gas operations in the Permian Basin, the busiest oilfield in the world. Because of its decades of dedication to extracting and burning fossil fuels, Exxon has been a main driver<\/a> of carbon emissions into our environment that have accelerated the global climate crisis.<\/p>\n At the same time, ExxonMobil has been a leading force in climate denialism for decades. We now know that for decades Exxon knew that carbon emissions were causing climate change. Not only did Exxon suppress this knowledge, but it actively<\/a> promoted<\/a> climate denialism and tried to stall responses to climate change.<\/p>\n Considering all this, one wonders how Hooley can justify serving on the board of Liberty Mutual while at the same time being responsible for guiding the board of one of the world\u2019s biggest oil corporations whose core business deeply conflicts with climate goals. <\/p>\n ExxonMobil\u2019s most recent annual report<\/a> clearly states that the company\u2019s \u201cprincipal business involves exploration for, and production of, crude oil and natural gas.\u201d Moreover, the \u201crisk factors\u201d identified in the report include increased climate regulation, denial of oil and gas permits, new efficiency standards, and other measures that we need to address the climate catastrophe. It is clear that ExxonMobil sees new climate regulation as a core threat to its business.<\/p>\n Hooley also faces major climate conflicts around his personal financial stake in ExxonMobil. According to Exxon\u2019s proxy statements, Hooley took in $675,311 in compensation in 2020<\/a> and $214,295 in 2021<\/a> for a total of $889,606 in compensation over the past two years. The bulk of this compensation was awarded in the form of stock awards. According to his most recent SEC <\/a>disclosure, Hooley <\/a>currently owns 13,000 shares of Exxon Mobil stock. These shares were worth $1,227,200 at the close of the U.S. stock market on May 24, 2022, when Exxon\u2019s share price closed<\/a> at $94.40<\/a>.<\/p>\n All this means that, as ExxonMobil and the fossil fuel industry continue to profit from oil and gas operations, so will Hooley. With Hooley\u2019s personal stake in fossil fuels, how can anyone trust him to also help oversee, as a board member, the climate demands that must be core to Liberty Mutual\u2019s business in the years ahead?<\/p>\n Moreover, Hooley\u2019s position also raises concerns over conflicts if Liberty Mutual insures any fossil fuel projects that Exxon is connected to, such as pipelines, refineries, or other infrastructure. With Hooley\u2019s leading role at Exxon, Liberty Mutual must disclose any business it conducts with ExxonMobil and assure stakeholders that Hooley is not personally profiting from this business or otherwise abusing his director role at Liberty Mutual to benefit Exxon.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also worth noting that Hooley\u2019s location at the intersection of finance and fossil fuels is not new. Before joining the boards of ExxonMobil and Liberty Mutual, he was the President and CEO of State Street Corporation, generally considered the world\u2019s third largest asset manager. State Street drew extensive scrutiny<\/a> around the time of Hooley\u2019s tenure because of its massive fossil fuel portfolio. <\/p>\n Ironically, while leading the board of a company that thrives on extractive industry and systems dependent on fossil fuels, Hooley is also a director<\/a> of Aptiv, a self-proclaimed green tech company \u2013 once again, showing how he\u2019s swimming in conflicts of interest. <\/p>\n Hooley is not the only example of conflicts of interest at the core of Liberty Mutual\u2019s governance when it comes to climate issues and the fossil fuel industry. As an extensive 2021 DeSmog<\/a> investigation showed, Liberty Mutual\u2019s board is awash in oil and gas ties. <\/p>\n Today, an astounding 9 out of 13 Liberty Mutual board members \u2013 a whopping 69% \u2013 have close ties to, and are personally profiting from, extractive industries. These include:<\/p>\nBig Oil\u2019s Lead Director: Hooley Takes the Helm at ExxonMobil<\/h2>\n
Hooley and ExxonMobil: A Major Conflict for Liberty Mutual<\/h2>\n
A Conflicted Board: Liberty Mutual\u2019s Climate Governance Problem<\/h2>\n
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