The chairman of BP, Helge Lund, has announced plans to step down sometime in 2026, after hedge fund Elliot Investment Management L.P. joined other shareholders in opposing the oil company’s net zero agenda.

The news comes as several multinational corporations are resetting policies that turn them away from an ESG agenda, including diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Read More: Trump Admin Pressures EU Firms to Drop DEI Policies

According to The Guardian, Elliott is known for its attempts to shake up listed companies, and began to build a multibillion-pound stake in BP earlier in 2025, after growing dissatisfaction among shareholders over the company’s plan to curb its fossil fuel production in favor of green investments.

BP said on April 4 that Lund planned to leave his post “in due course” once a successor has joined the board, which would “most likely” be in 2026.

The net zero strategy was set by the former BP chief executive Bernard Looney, who was appointed by Lund in 2020 to transform the oil company into an integrated energy company.

But oil and gas prices went up, handing huge profits to companies sticking to fossil fuel production, making BP’s low-carbon strategy unappealing to shareholders. Then, in 2023, Looney suddenly resigned, less than four years into his tenure, after admitting that he failed to fully detail relationships with colleagues. 

BP’s current chief executive, Murray Auchincloss, set out a “fundamental reset” of the company’s strategy weeks after Elliott took aim at the company.