Exxon Suit Seeks Novel Path to Block Shareholder Climate Votes

ExxonMobil Corp. is being eyed as a potential trendsetter with its unusual approach of trying to use the court system to keep environmental and social investor bids out of annual meetings.

The Houston oil company is no stranger to pressure from activist investors over its greenhouse gas emissions, facing a shareholder push for greater climate impact targets for three consecutive years. Sunday it went a step further in fighting the pressure by suing activist shareholders Arjuna Capital and Follow This in federal court, hoping to kill the proposal.

Some legal observers described the move as possibly the first time ...