Conservation groups are employing a new tactic to ght major projects, and it appears to be having an effect with large public companies sensitive to reputation. This was likely a factor in First Quan- tum Minerals’ decision not to exercise an option on Pebble Mine (see page 3). Pebble opposition groups including tribal entities from Bristol Bay and the Natural Resource Defense Council, a ma- jor conservation organization, mounted an intense lobbying campaign on First Quantum’s manage- ment to exit the project, also attending a share- holder meeting, the NRDC said.

By itself this might not have been enough but the groups also meet with management at BlackRock, an equity investment group holding a major stake in First Quantum. BlackRock has been touting a new “sustainable” investment strategy, and the NRDC played on that in meetings with Black-

Rock, it said. Now the same strategy is being used in an attempt to chill investment interest in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. BNP Paribas Asset Management of Paris and New York state’s retirement fund has sent letters to 100 major oil and gas companies with Arctic interests asking them not to participate in upcoming ANWR lease sales. The same basic tactic, used by Greenpeace, was also effective against Shell with its Chuchi Sea venture in 2015. Although Shell hit a dry hole, ordinarily a company wouldn’t give up on a region with only one well. Shell’s board eventually tired of being pounded.