OSLO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - The world's largest sovereign

wealth fund is falling short on its own climate expectations by

failing to vote in support of key shareholder resolutions during

this year's AGM season, a non-governmental organisation said on

Monday.

The $1.8 trillion fund pools the Nordic state's revenue from

oil and gas production. Since 2022 it aims for the 9,000

companies it invests in to reach net-zero greenhouse gas

emissions by 2050, in line with the Paris Agreement.

As part of its strategy, the fund's management, Norges Bank

Investment Management (NBIM), sets expectations to corporate

boards on climate change and votes at annual general meetings on

the issue.

It says it engages with companies in multiple ways,

including via voting on shareholder proposals, and in severe

cases can divest from companies if they fail to respond.

The fund is failing short, however, on that ambition,

according to a new report by Norwegian NGO Framtiden i vaare

hender (Future in our Hands) reviewed by Reuters ahead of its

release on Monday.

The report analysed the fund's voting record on 21 climate

resolutions at 17 companies during this year's annual general

meetings' season, including at Shell, BP and

TotalEnergies.

It found the fund voted against 17 out of 21 climate

resolutions deemed important to support by three climate lobby

groups, instead aligning with recommendation from the management

of the companies' concerned. The fund supported the remaining

four.

Lucy Brooks, an advisor on sustainable finance at the NGO,

said the fund had been fairly consistent in voting against

company management on some issues, such as excessive executive

pay, but not when it comes to climate change.

"They are far less consistent when it comes to voting on the

limited number of climate resolutions put forward at the most

critical companies that can influence the energy transition away

from fossil fuels," she told Reuters.

"They do not ensure that their votes align with the

expectations laid out in their own climate action plan."

NBIM said it engaged with top emitters via company meetings

and via voting at AGMs and that it often considered these tools

in combination.

When deciding whether to back a shareholder proposal, NBIM

said it analyses three factors: materiality, prescriptiveness

and its scope.

"This detailed analysis often results in us withholding

support for proposals that at first glance raise important

topics and contain language that is aligned with our own

expectations," Eivind Fliflet, head of the environmental team in

NBIM's active ownership department, told Reuters.

"We recognise that there are different views on what it

means for individual companies in various sectors to be aligned

with the goals of the Paris Agreement and follow developments

and standards in this area closely."

In the first half of 2024, NBIM supported 31% of shareholder

proposals on sustainability topics it voted at, roughly the same

as in 2023, it said.