Equinor ASA (EQNR) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[Interpreted] Before we start today's general meeting, we will have a brief HSE briefing by Terje Holst. Yes, welcome to Equinor. We would like to inform you about our emergency plans in case we need to evacuate the building. No drills or exercises are planned. So all alarms must be considered to be real. And if you have to exit, then you need to leave the room immediately. Follow the advice and signals of the staff. And then when you exit the building, please spread outside and wait for further information. I wish you a good Annual General Meeting. Thank you. Welcome to the Annual General Meeting of Equinor ASA. So to non-Norwegian participants, simultaneous translation to English is available. And for those present in this room, headsets with English translations are available. If you are logged on to the Lumi AGM, you can choose English version by selecting preferred broadcast language. We will, therefore, now continue in Norwegian.

[Interpreted] My name is Tone Lunde Bakker. I am Chair of the Corporate Assembly and the Nomination Committee of Equinor. As you will see from the notice convening the meeting, the Board of Directors of Equinor ASA has appointed me to open today's Annual General Meeting in accordance with Section 512 of the Public Limited Liability Companies Act, PLLC. With me on the panel, I have Chair of the Board of Directors, Jon Erik Reinhardsen; President and CEO, Anders Opedal; General Counsel and Executive Vice President, Siv Helen Rygh Torstensen; and Company Secretary and Lawyer, Marte Johanson Hanasand. This year, Equinor celebrates its 50th anniversary. And as you saw in the film, just shown, everything we've learned during the first 50 years will be critical for the next 50. This involves technology. It's about building an industry. It's all about people and not least, about working together. Together towards a common goal. Before we start, I want to ask everyone to switch your mobile phones to silence mode. This year, all voting will be conducted electronically via Lumi AGM. All attending participants will then have received information on arrival concerning the electronic voting system. Shareholders who participate digitally will find Lumi AGM guidance available at equinor.com. I want to start by giving you some practical information. Items will be open for voting once we have recorded the number of shares represented. We expect to complete the recording in a few minutes to ensure registration of all those who log in. You will then be eligible to vote on the various items being shown on your screen, which you can access by clicking on the bar chart icon. We will open all items on the agenda at the same time, and you cast your vote by pressing the button for, for, against or abstain on each item. You are free to change your vote on an individual item until the point where that item gets closed, you will then no longer be able to vote on this item. If anyone would like the floor during the general meeting, please give a signal and introduce yourself by name. Shareholders may grant the right to speak on their behalf to one adviser. Those who speak will for health and safety reasons we ask to kindly use the stairs next to the rostrum. This is necessary for technical reasons and due to the direct online webcast of the general meeting. Shareholders who submitted proposals will have up to 5 minutes to present their motions while others who would like the floor will have a time limit of up to 3 minutes to state their case. Such a time limit is necessary to ensure that all the shareholders who would like to participate have an opportunity to provide input. Shareholders who participate digitally are welcome to submit questions and comments to the items whenever they want until the item is closed. You may begin to send questions and comments to all items on the agenda now. Questions and comments from shareholders will go to Equinor's moderator team in Lumi to moderate any inappropriate language. The questions will be published when we start addressing the item in question. Please state which item your question or comment relates to when submitting it. Shareholders will be identified by name, but not by the number of shares held. We want to point out that questions or comments received after an item is closed, will not be answered. We may also group questions together and answer them jointly, wherever this is practical and expedient for the general meeting. Questions related to items not on the agenda will generally not be addressed. In order to take into account a natural delay in the live broadcast stream of about 30 seconds, there will be a short pause after each item is presented. We do this to ensure that as many votes as possible are registered. During the proceedings, we may also need to take short pauses to ensure that the meeting is conducted in a good manner. In my capacity as moderator, it's my duty under Section 513 of the PLLC Act to make a list of the shares that are legally represented at this AGM. We have the following share capital portion represented 116,771,424 shares are represented by advanced votes. 3,040,144 shares are represented by proxy to the Chair of the Board. 234,222,272 are represented by instructions to the chair. We have 40 shareholders who vote for 2,282,745,113 owned shares and 22,183 shares by proxy. And 19 shareholders are voting online, representing 17,581 owned shares. In total, this has up to 2,436,819,197 shares represented that make up 77.87% of the share capital. So we now open the votes on all items, and we move to the first item, election of chair for the meeting. Please note that the vote will soon be closed. So please cast your vote now. To shareholders who missed the explanation about how to vote, you'll find this information on the log-in page. We also wish to point out that you are also free to vote on remaining items now. The voting results for all items will follow from the attachment to the minutes, which will be posted on the company's website shortly after the Annual General Meeting. The Board of Directors proposes that the general meeting elect the Chair of the Corporate Assembly, that is me, to chair the meeting. Are there any other proposals from the shareholders? That does not seem to be the case. [Voting]

[Interpreted] No other questions or comments have been received, and we, therefore, close the vote. Yes. All right, we have dealt with this item and we close the vote. DNB has now confirmed that the majority are in favor of the proposal, and that the Chair of the Corporate Assembly has been elected to chair the meeting. Next, we move to the next item, which is the approval of the notice and the agenda. Please note that the vote will be closed when the item has been dealt with. Section 510 of the PLLC Act states that the general meeting shall be convened by written notice to all shareholders with a known address. Pursuant to Section 510-2 of the PLLC Act and Section 511-B11, the notice of the meeting shall be sent out no later than 3 weeks prior to the meeting. The notice convening the meeting with attachments were sent to all shareholders registered in the Norwegian Central Securities Depository, VPS on the date of the notification pursuant to the deadline specified in the act. The notice, financial statements and Board of Directors' annual report as well as other attachments to the notice are published on the company's website in compliance with 511 of the PLLC Act and the company's Articles of Association. Thus, a notification has taken place in accordance with the act and the provisions of the articles of associations. In my capacity as Chair, I propose that after the accounts by the Chair of the Board and the CEO relating to items 6, 7, 9 and 10, the shareholders can present their proposals in sequence. That is Item 11 through 19. Once all the proposals have been presented by the respective shareholders present or wanted or read out by a representative of the company, we'll open the floor for other interventions and comments from attendees to the 9 proposals from shareholders plus items 6, 7, 9 and 10. Responses to any comments and questions via Lumi AGM will then also be given. The point of dealing with these items together is to maximize practicality and time efficiency. Voting will still take place in accordance with the notice of the meeting. It is only interventions, questions and comments that will be merged for the said items. This is the same method as we have employed at previous general meetings. We now move to the vote, if there are no comments to this item. [Voting]

[Interpreted] It doesn't seem to be the case, and we hereby close the vote. DNB has now confirmed that the resolution has been adopted by a majority of the votes cast and the Annual General Meeting is declared to be legally convened and the agenda is adopted. Next item is the election of 2 persons to co-sign the minutes together with the chair of the meeting. Please remember that the vote is closed when the item has been dealt with. The following are nominated to sign the minutes electronically of the meeting along with the Chair, Georg Fredrik Rabl and Svein Skeie. Are there any other proposals from shareholders? We have not received any questions or comments, and we hereby close the vote. Something is being said off mic. The interpreters are not able to hear it. [Voting]

[Interpreted] DNB has now confirmed that the majority of the votes cast are in favor of the resolution and Georg Fredrik Rabl and Svein Skeie have been elected to co-sign the minutes. We are now moving to deal with Item 6 annual -- approval of the annual report and accounts for Equinor ASA and the Equinor Group for 2021, including the Board of Directors' proposal. As we also set interventions, questions and comments related to item 7, 9, 10 and shareholders' proposals 11 to 19 will be dealt with in conjunction with Item 6. If you wish to comment via Lumi, please state which item your message relates to. And please note that the vote will be closed when the item has been dealt with. The directors report and annual accounts with the auditor's report and the statement by the corporate assembly are included in the annual report and have been made available on the company's website. I give the floor to the Chair of the Board, Jon Erik Reinhardsen, who will account for the Board's view of operations and proposal for dividend, item 6. The Board's proposal for authorization to distribute dividend based on approved annual accounts for 2021, item 7. The proposal to amend the Article 1 of the Articles of Association, item 9. The energy transition plan, item 10. And the Board's report on corporate governance, item 20. The Chairman also account for the Board's response to the 9 shareholder proposals, items 11 through to 19, and the floor will then be given to CEO, Anders Opedal later. Under item 21 on the agenda, the Chair of the Board will give a separate report on the Board of Directors' report on salary and other remuneration to leading personnel. Jon Erik Reinhardsen, you have the floor.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Tone. Dear, fellow shareholders. It feels good to be back at the general meeting where we once again may meet up in person. Last year's AGM was fully digitalized. And this year, we have a hybrid solution. Furthermore, this AGM is held at a point in time where our world faces great uncertainty and conflict in a very long time. We are all very much impacted by the war in Ukraine. [indiscernible] had expected that we would see acts of war play out on European soil again. Equinor made swift decisions to start the process of exiting the company's projects in Russia and stop new agreements, including the trade of oil and petroleum products. The decision was both correct and important. Presently, the company is working actively towards exiting our operations in Russia in accordance with our values and the current sanctions and legislation. In my presentation today, I will give an account of last year's result and the work of the Board of Directors and transition plan, a proposal to amend the objectives of our Articles of Association and the Board's response to the submitted shareholder proposals and the votes there on. Let us talk about the preceding year. And I will start by talking about safety. Safety is the highest priority for the company and the Board of Directors. Last year, our serious incident frequency improved compared to 2020. But we still have too many personnel injuries related to our activities. The Board is, therefore, working closely with the administration to turn the trend. Strong collaboration with employee representatives, partners and suppliers is key to further improve our safety performance. In 2021, we have seen a significant increase in commodity prices compared to 2020 with a surge in natural gas prices that had a direct impact on people and societies. This serves as an important reminder on significance of our industry, underlining the need for reliable and affordable supply of energy through the transition. Equinor delivered strong financial results in 2021, as a result of higher commodity prices, a sustained focus on improvement and strict capital discipline. Without our organization's ability to deliver safe and efficient operations and without the hard work of our employees, we would not have achieved this. We achieved a total shareholder return of 62% in 2021, bringing us to the first quartile in our peer group. The last 5 years, we have delivered a return of 79%, which also places us in the first quartile. We delivered strong financial results with a net operating income of $34 billion. The return on average capital employed increased from 2% to 23% compared to the preceding year, and the adjusted production growth for oil and gas increased with approximately 3%. Adjusted earnings were $33 billion before tax and $10 billion after tax. We will maintain our focus on costs and improvements, and we have created values from higher prices with solid operations. Driven by high cash flow, we have improved our adjusted net debt ratio from 32 to below 0 in 2021. The company is bringing the solid operations and strong results with it into 2022 also. I will now talk about the Board of Directors report and our proposal of distribution dividend, the work of the Board of Directors in 2021 and the Board's statement on corporate governance, item #6, #7 and #20. The Board's statement on salary and other remuneration for leading personnel is addressed under item 21. It is the company's ambition to grow the annual cash dividend in line with long-term underlying earnings. The Board approves first to third quarter interim dividends based on an authorization from the general meeting. The Annual General Meeting approved the fourth quarter dividend and total annual dividend based on a proposal from the Board. In the course of 2021, we have increased our cash dividend from $0.15 per share in the first quarter. And as we said on the Capital Markets Day in June last year, to $0.18 per share for the second and third quarters. In addition, we have executed our share buyback program as part of our capital distribution. For the fourth quarter of the year, the Board proposes through the AGM, a cash dividend of $0.20 per share and an extraordinary quarterly dividend of the same amount. As for previous years, the Board of Directors proposes that the general meeting provides an authorization to the Board to approve quarterly dividends up until the next ordinary AGM. The proposal is in accordance with the company's dividend policy. The Board also takes into consideration expected cash flow, capital expenditure plans, financing requirements, appropriate financial capacity and the overall situation of the company. I will now move on to address the work of the Board of Directors in 2021. The corporate governance is based on openness and equal treatment of all shareholders. The mandate of the Board is to ensure long-term value creation for our shareholders and safeguard the interest of our stakeholders and society at large. The Board of Equinor focuses on maintaining a high standard of corporate governance in line with Norwegian and international standards of best practice. The Board is independent and focuses on preventing conflicts of interest between shareholders, the Board of Directors and the company's management. The Board held 8 ordinary Board meetings and 3 extraordinary Board meetings in 2021. The attendance was 100%. The entire Board, all parts of it, regularly visit several Equinor plants and office locations in Norway and globally as well. However, in 2021, the Board's visits were canceled due to the COVID-19 situation. And the next Board trip is planned now for 2022. Nonetheless, in 2021, I was allowed to visit South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in the context of the U.S. offshore wind business. The Board often discusses climate-related upside and downside risks and Equinor's strategic response to these. In 2021, the Board discussed climate change and the energy transition in most of the ordinary Board meetings, either as an integral part of strategy and investment discussions or as separate topics. Given the launch of our updated strategy in June 2021, the work on this strategy was an important part of the Board's work through the year. I will now move on to address item #10, which concerns Equinor's energy transition plan. Last year, Equinor announced that the company will create an energy transition plan and submitted for an advisory vote at this year's AGM. This was based upon a wish from our investors to get an overview of how the company plans to deliver on our ambition to be a net zero company in 2050. The vote will not challenge the basic principle that the responsibility for the company's strategy rests with the Board of Directors and the administration. We regard the energy transition plan as a good point of the project for dialogue with investors and other stakeholders on Equinor's operations and strategy. The company has been in extensive dialogue with shareholders since launching the energy transition plan. We have received much input and comments. Some shareholders chose to vote against the plan on principal grants related to corporate governance. Others will vote against it because they believe that the plan is not going far enough, despite the fact that Equinor is at the industry forefront on this area. The energy transition plan is a new document for us. Therefore, we greatly appreciate this dialogue, and we bring with us all feedback and basis for choice of vote when we continue our efforts to deliver on the strategy and our net zero ambition for 2050. We will continue this dialogue in the years going forward. The energy transition plan describes the strategy behind Equinor's energy transition. Our strategy is to deliver energy with high value creation and a steady reduction of carbon emissions. We have a clear plan to utilize our experience, competence and capital from the area of oil and gas in new value-creating sectors of the energy system. Our energy transition plan is based on specific measures and projects. We believe that the plan demonstrates that we have the right strategy, ambition level and competence to be a leading company in the green shift, while at the same time, continuing to deliver long-term shareholder value and competitiveness. In February, the company strengthened its ambition level by including the ambition to reduce our net operated greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 for own operated field on a company level. And we aim for 90% of this to be realized through absolute reductions. The new ambition is in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement and the ambition to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. The company aims for a rapid increase of CapEx allocations to renewables and low-carbon solutions. This is an important pillar in our plan. The energy transition is a global challenge. It requires a coordinated effort from authorities and industries across borders. Equinor's ambition is to be a proactive and constructive partner in the efforts to accelerate the green shift. Equinor will present its updated energy transition plan in 2025, but report on the progress on an annual basis. I'm now -- let me now briefly address item #9, which is a proposal to amend Article 1 of the Articles of Association. This year, the company celebrated 50th anniversary and as a consequence of the changes the company has undergone the Board found natural to update the objectives of the company. On this background, the Board proposes an amendment to the objects clause, which has had a particular focus on oil and gas. The new amendment will use the word, Energy, which is in harmony with the current strategy and the company's ambition to deliver energy with reduced emissions and in time, 0 emissions. Next, I would like to address the submitted shareholder has also set out in items 11 through 19. In the documents distributed prior to the AGM, the Board of Directors have responded to the proposals and explained why the Board recommends that the general meeting votes against all of the shareholders' proposals. Nevertheless, I would like to expand on some of the topics in this address. The proposals of items 11 and 12, both deal with the company's climate goals. In this address, I've accounted for the company's energy transaction (sic) [ transition ] plan. The Board emphasizes that the ETG significantly overlaps the proposals from Follow This, Greenpeace and WWF, including the importance of companies supporting the goals of the Paris Agreement and setting -- the setting of short, medium and long-term ambitions. The energy transition plan demonstrates how Equinor is aligned with the Paris Agreement and the scenarios of 1.5 degrees for our own emissions. This plan also demonstrates how the company contributes to financing the transition, and how it is ahead of society pledges. When it comes to the scenarios are well below 2-degree Celsius in terms of ambitions, including emissions from the use of energy sold, that is scope 3. However, the Board's view differs from that to follow the Greenpeace and WWF with respect to the question of whether energy company should set absolute targets for Scope 3 emissions in regard to the use of energy sold. In this regard, the company believes and the Board believes that intensity-based ambitions are important because these include both energy production and emissions. A focus on cuts in absolute emissions from the end users is likely to incentivize displacement rather than reduction of emissions given the demand in the market today. In the short term, until a market for hydrogen and carbon capture and storage is established, absolute emission targets that include end-user emissions will only be achieved by selling or shutting down profitable oil and gas production, the shifting in direct emissions from end use to other producers. Equinor's strategy in the transition is based on being a continued supplier of reliable energy with a progressively lower greenhouse gas footprint over time toward net zero in 2050. However, the company cannot operate outside of existing framework conditions with respect to policy and markets. Right now, the world is dealing with a situation where energy security is high on the agenda, particularly in Europe. In this situation, Equinor is an important and reliable supply of energy, both oil and gas and renewables. On this background, the Board of Directors recommends that the general meeting votes against these 2 proposals and vote in favor of the company's energy transition plan, which will be regularly updated in much the same way that society as such updates its ambitions and targets. Item 13 concerns the proposal from Greenpeace about the state restructuring fund. About this a specific proposal. We believe that Norwegian authority is better positioned as to assess whether there's a need for establishing a transition fund. Board recommends a general meeting votes against the proposal. I'll move on to address the shareholder proposal from members of Grandparents Climate Campaign, and shareholder Even Bakke in items 14 to 18 and the Board's recommendation. These proposals are related to the international operations of the company, the cessation of exploration activities are planned for the closure of the oil industry and a transformation to sustainable energy production. Equinor is, no matter where the company operates, committed to preventing harm to the environment. The company has a risk-based precautionary approach and works in accordance with government requirements, company requirements and good practice to follow up the environment and safety performance. We carry out environmental risks and impact assessments in planning phases before operations and development activities. Our work also entails impact assessments, monitoring programs and cooperation with various research institutes to build knowledge. In Norway, Equinor still sees a significant exploration potential, especially around our existing infrastructure, and we believe that there is a need and room for this also within the framework of the Paris Agreement. We see a potential in the production of new energy carriers such as hydrogen and ammonia based on natural gas with carbon capture and storage. It is the Norwegian authorities who must at all times assess the weather and which areas should be available for activity. In accordance with our strategy, Equinor prioritize projects with the highest value and lowest emissions also for our international portfolio. Equinor has in recent years focused its international oil and gas portfolio and has exited several countries and exited the majority of the companies operated on conventional in the U.S. The company is focusing more on offshore operations, which is our core competence. We are making the portfolio more robust towards lower prices while capturing a significant upside in periods with higher prices, which we now see. Both the Board and the administration regularly evaluate the portfolio composition in relation to the company's overall strategy, the assets economic development and other relevant aspects. And this applies to the entire portfolio of the company. The Board emphasizes the importance of complying with the principles of good corporate governance and that the company's strategy is to be determined by the Board of Directors of the company. Based on this, the Board of Directors recommends that the general meeting vote against the proposal in item 14 to 18. Moving on to Item 19, which is a proposal from shareholder, Per Henning Lerstad that the Board of Equinor outlines a specific plan for quality assurance and anticorruption. Equinor's business will never be without risks, but the Board and the company's #1 priority is and will always be safe operations. This is reflected both in the Board's priorities, the company's governing documentation and the company culture that has been developed in Equinor over many years. The Board will continue to actively follow up this work also in the future. And on behalf of the company, we look forward to the dialogue we have, both with the public authorities and shareholders when it comes to safety and risk management. Equinor has been engaged in projects outside of Norway for many years. In more recent years, this also includes many renewables projects. Each country and each project has its own risk profile, but business integrity risk assessment as well as risk mitigating activities are integrated in all phases of any project development in Equinor. And if the risk level is too high, a project will be sorted. In some cases, Equinor has decided to exit countries completely when the risk level has become too high. Whenever we are present in a high-risk country or project, Equinor manages that risk through various means such as, for example, dedicated compliance personnel, strong contractual language and commercial mechanisms to ensure compliance with the laws and regulations. Equinor has strong business integrity programs for various forms of business integrity, including anticorruption. And these programs provide among other things, relevant training and raises awareness amongst all of our employees. On this background, the recommendation of the Board is that the general meeting votes against this proposal. I'm now about to round off my account on behalf of the Board of Directors, I wish to thank CEO, Anders Opedal, and his management team for strong delivery in a period characterized by significant volatility and instability. Last, but not least, I wish to give a heartfelt thank you to all employees for their hard work and dedication through 2021. And now I pass the floor to our CEO. Thank you for your attention.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Chair, and dear fellow shareholders. We find ourselves in the midst of an extraordinary situation that affects us all. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is altering Europe's security situation. The human toll is massive, and we see consequences far beyond Ukraine's borders. We quickly decided to stop investments in Russia and initiated the process of withdrawing from existing projects. We will do this in a way that safeguards our employees and that are in accordance with our values. The war will have an impact on European and global cooperation going forward. And the effects of this will be visible in the energy markets for a long time. Given this backdrop, the level of tension is increasing globally, and this has consequences for food prices and energy prices, which, in turn, puts pressure on everyone's financial situation. Countries become more focused on safeguarding their own interests instead of contributing towards global solutions. In addition to the war, we also faced a climate crisis. The world has to reduce emissions. At the same time, as we see a growing global demand for energy, more renewables, more low-carbon solutions and in the short term, more oil and gas, too. But short-term changes and turbulence do not change the long-term perspectives. In the past year, updated reports have been presented by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC and other sources. The climate challenges we faced have never been greater, and the need for action has never been more important. The world must cut emissions quickly and reach net zero by 2050. There will be differing opinions about how to achieve this. Equinor's strategy is our answer. At our Capital Market Day in June of last year, we presented an updated strategy. The strategy is based on the foundation blocks we've established over many years, always safe, high value and low carbon. The strategy has 3 pillars: an optimized oil and gas portfolio; profitable growth in renewable energy; and development of new low-carbon solutions, such as hydrogen and carbon capture and storage. This strategy demonstrates consistency over time, but also positions the company for the future. This is a flexible strategy that will help make Equinor become a leading company in the transition towards a low carbon society. And the task is by no means easy. Implementing this kind of change is not a matter of simply flipping a switch but the result of a smooth transition. History is full of examples of companies which have had to change strategy because their core business falls apart or becomes irrelevant. Equinor is in a very different situation. We are going to implement a transition and build a new industry at the same time as our existing core business delivers better results than ever before. And this means that we will change from a strong position and because we want to. And let me on this note, say a few words about the past year. At last year's Annual General Meeting, we reported results impacted by low oil and gas prices. At the beginning of that year, we presented the 2020 net income, the worst performance in the company's history. At the beginning of this year, we presented the 2021 financial statements, the best IFRS net income ever. This volatility is largely due to heavily fluctuating energy prices. Last year's results must be seen in this perspective. The serious incident trend in the company showed improvement at the end of 2021. It's motivating to see that the work we do every single day to improve safety has an effect. The number of serious incidents in 2021 was at its lowest level in the company's history. We will continue to build on positive achievements, but we still have a job to do. And therefore, we will continue our efforts to build a stronger and more uniform safety culture across our facilities. Everyone should feel safe working for Equinor. The financial performance was robust. Adjusted EBITDA was USD 10 billion for 2021. The production of oil and gas increased by 3.2%. Continued focus on improvements and capital discipline contributed to a strong free cash flow of $25 billion, and a considerable strengthening of our balance sheet. This is a team victory. High prices are important, but equally important is the rock solid effort from our employees and suppliers. They have ensured stable production at our facilities, which enables strong value creation with current prices. The pandemic continued to affect the level of activity in 2021, but the markets recovered with high prices, particularly in the second half of the year. As the Chair of the Board highlighted, 2021 was different from 2020. In the course of that year, we also launched initiatives that will contribute towards future value creation the Martin Linge field came on street following persistent effort from our organization. This has been a demanding project in many respects, but it's now producing well at the time with high gas prices. This leads us to expect that the investment will be repaid as early as by the summer. We made an investment decision on Bacalhau in Brazil. which will increase our production in the country considerably. And we have delivered on our strategy to focus on our international oil and gas portfolio. And in the area of renewable and low carbon solutions, we have acquired the solar company, Wento, and a share of the battery company Noriker, and we have signed an MOU on the potential development of offshore wind in countries like South Korea and Spain. Equinor has, along with our suppliers and partners, delivered world-class engineering for almost 50 years. We contribute to development and value creation in Norway and internationally. And this is only possible if we keep a steady focus on the future and with a willingness to take huge technological and strategic leaps. We have taken industrial positions that have contributed to societal progress for many decades. And we're now paving the way for new such advancements. For us, this is about changing for the future, while at the same time, creating value for society today. As the Chair of the Board said, we have submitted an energy transition plan. To me, it's important to stress how this plan creates the foundation for how we can become a net zero company by 2050. The choices we make today will be critical for the green shift and for Equinor. There are 3 perspectives that I want to share with you here. In Norway, Equinor will be a locomotive in the transition of the Norwegian continental shelf from an oil and gas province to an energy province. In Europe, we will be a predictable supplier of energy, both gas and renewables to a continent, which is currently experiencing a dramatically changed energy situation. Globally, we will be a partner who creates value for the societies we operate in and contribute to with investments in energy that the world needs. Let me go a bit into further detail. In Norway, we have presented what we call the Norway Energy Hub, a plan for the transition of the Norwegian continental shelf from an oil and gas province to an energy province. Norway made the right choices when we developed hydropower at the beginning of last century and the oil industry in the 1970s. We now face a similar opportunity with a focus on renewable energy and low carbon solutions. We must seize this opportunity along with the rest of the industry and the authorities. Norway Energy Hub is a plan for modern day Norway and about how we maintain and develop Norway's position as an energy nation by using our energy resources to create jobs, value and welfare. This transition is necessary. But at the same time, we see a situation in Europe with power shortage, resulting in increased prices for all. As a major energy supplier to Europe, we have turned every valve to secure and increase gas deliveries. We will continue to do so, and we will also be investing heavily in renewables projects in Norway, the U.K., Germany and Poland. Never before have I received more questions about how much and how quickly we can supply energy to European customers. Another contribution outside Norway is how actively we work with projects for hydrogen and carbon capture and storage, for example, in the U.K. Here, we can have by supplying energy with low carbon emissions and enable a transition of the country's heavy industry. It enables us to contribute even beyond the boundaries of our own company's operations. In Humber, our ambition is to take a region with the highest emissions in the U.K. to a low-carbon region. And we also have a role to play globally. Outside Norway, Equinor's activities contribute to value creation and revenue. We are a driving force to promote solutions that will cut emissions and increase energy production where it's most needed. And this applies to oil and gas, particularly, but also to an increasing extent to renewable and low-carbon solutions. In the same way as in our traditional operations, there's also a need to take risk based on our experience and knowledge from and expertise from Norway, we have a lot to contribute to. When it comes to capital expenditure, project management, technological development and not least with regard to the ability to take risk to mention some. We will also be relying on these capabilities when we assess future opportunities. This is necessary if we are to succeed, we're taking a leading role in the green shift. And we do this against a challenging backdrop; the war in Ukraine, a changing world and an ongoing climate crisis. The rest of the world is facing a trilemma, energy trilemma. How can we jointly safeguard and predictably deliver energy with low emissions at an affordable price? We must deliver on all 3 to succeed, and there is some urgency here. The energy transition plan gives an overview of how Equinor intends to ensure a value-creating transition. There are great expectations to Equinor. These are expectations that we understand and will deliver on. We will be a driving force for the transition of the Norwegian continental shelf. We will be a predictable and forward-leaning partner for Europe, and we will contribute to the global energy transition. A more turbulent than ever-changing world, a war in Ukraine high demand for energy and the climate crisis that's becoming ever more imminent, demand that action from us all, not least from Equinor. Thank you for your attention.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much, Anders, and thank you to both of you for your accounts. We will now move on to the shareholder proposals. And I remind you that we open up for questions and comments from the floor after all proposals have been presented. And also remind you that shareholders who participate digitally must submit their questions or comments that they may have in the Lumi AGM solution. This will be published in the course of and after all shareholder proposals have been presented. Please note that we will not open up for questions and comments later for items 6, 7, 9 and 10. And shareholder proposals in items 11 through 19. For these items, that will only be voting on each item. It is also possible to vote on these items now, all the items now. If you wish to support the proposal of the shareholder, you vote in favor of the proposal, whereas you should vote against the proposal if you wish to follow the recommendation of the Board of Directors. We now move on to item 11, which is the proposal put forward from shareholder Follow This. The proposal under item 11 was distributed with notice of the AGM. It will be shown on the screen and will not be read out allowed. We give the floor to a representative of the shareholder who will read the supporting statement. You have 5 minutes. We will refer to any questions and comments regarding the item 11 and vote on the proposal. The floor is yours.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much. Dear AGM, my name is Martin Norman. I work for an Australian organization called ACCR. But here and now, I'm going to present the proposal from Follow This. For those of you who have been here before, this is a known proposal. It's been up before the AGM several times before. It's quite simply to have a clear target for Scopes 1, 2 and 3 for the company. There's no doubt that Equinor has done a lot in the recent 5, 6, 7 years in terms of emissions. And obviously, you have a good strategy or you're starting to eat out a suitably good strategy on how to progress. At the same time, though, the thing is the climate crisis that we are -- that we see now, which was flagged clearly, by Gro Harlem Brundtland in 1992 as an activist sort of, is something that you've known about for a long time. And it's a bit sad to see that the company in 2022 still in the plans going forward, plan to increase its total emissions. Analysis done by carbon tracker, Global Tracker Insights, one and several investors, the total emissions will increase, these analysis show. Follow This and myself, we are convinced that setting clear Scope 3 targets for the company, as you've done -- they've done in BP that, that will be an important step to not just attain net zero in 2050, but to get there as quickly as possible. And I think that the company has missed the target a little bit, not just Equinor, but others as well. We must reach net zero as quickly as possible. And while I'm here at the rostrum, I would like to say a little bit about the energy transition plan that Equinor has presented because it's been heavily criticized, not by NGOs only, but by the financial industry internationally. And it is about exactly the same thing. There's a lot of nice words. And there are -- and things -- good things are happening, but it's too little, too late. And that's and no doubt that we are facing a quite a demanding energy situation, not only in Europe but also elsewhere. But the long-term way is along the pathway of more renewables as quickly as possible. So I ask the shareholders then to not support Equinor's energy transition plan. And #2, I ask the shareholders to support the target that the company must have in order to cut its total emissions. We are in 2022 after all. And I think that will be in the best interest of the company and the best interest of Norway and the world. And I have a small prayer since you're sitting here now in front of me. I've followed this company closely since 2007, when you bought Canadian tar sand projects. We're not going to talk much about that here now. But I'm seeing how good you've been at -- you are good at communicating. You're good at influencing, you're good at maneuvering politically and in all manner and ways together with other companies, you're great at that. I do so wish that you would soon start to use the same resources to make the green shift happen as you've used on being allowed to continue to explore unreal for oil and gas. And there's another thing, too. We -- you're talking a lot about emissions per energy unit. If that's important enough in itself, of course. But at the same time, we see that you open up for new exploration areas in Canada, in Argentina, very controversial projects that are not in alignment with anything, which is in any climate report or in the Paris Agreement. So we hope that you reconsider some of the most controversial projects. That was what I had to say. Thank you for your attention. Thank you very much.

[Interpreted] So we will continue to item 12, which is a proposal put forward by shareholders, WWF and Greenpeace. The proposal under item 12 was distributed with the notice of AGM and will be shown on the screen and will not be read out aloud. We give the floor to the representative who will have 5 minutes to present the supporting statement, and we'll revert to any questions and comments regarding item 12.

[Interpreted] What is done with your money? Is your business when you use your business and you come to my country to destroy my country, then this becomes my business. It's not my word. My name is [indiscernible]. I'm a part of the Climate Energy team in WWF. These are the words of an indigenous people's leader, Francois Pollet. He was here. He came from the deep forest of Canada to warn the AGM against the then Statoil operations in tar sands. Today, we still have visitors from Canada from populations that are very worried about the Equinor plans for -- in Newfoundland. Here, in Norway, there's great resistance against the visiting field. The CEO, Helge Lund back then, he has admitted that tar sand was a mistake. It shouldn't have never happened. It was a conscious interest strategy that we warned against or not many other sites for many years without the company listening. Many of the expansive decisions have yielded red figures for the company. Helge Lund is the Norway's most expensive employee ever. We would like to direct the intention of today's management and Opedal at the head of it to this so that you don't make the same mistakes. It's great that Equinor has put a transition reshift on the agenda and that you have presented an energy transition plan. The problem is that it is not clear enough and it's not ambitious enough. The plan has been construed in a clinical way. It makes it difficult to see how the emissions targets for 2030 and '50 are to be attained. So we have used numbers from [indiscernible] energy to take a look at the future plans. So we see that Equinor is planning to increase the emissions from 22% for 2030. So no serious transition plan can involve increased emissions. Equinor is not clear on how you plan to attain or reach the climate goals, whether it is to reduce the production of oil and gas or increase their renewables or buy climate craters. The Climate Solutions Equinor is in practice fossil business models, which contributes to prolonging our dependency on fossil fuel sources. Hydrogen based upon gas or the electrification of the shelf, which removes emissions from the shelf, but it doesn't really do anything about the emissions in general. We and several other investors have questioned these 2 test of the portfolio presented in the annual report of Equinor. According to Equinor, it's a price drop of 30%, will yield the biggest drop of $9 million, while it stresses against the 1.5 degree only yields a loss of $7 million. This despite the fact that the prices in EEA's net zero scenario is $10 lower than the 30% price reduction would entail. We, in WWF, have stress-tested Equinor's portfolio based upon figures for [indiscernible] Energy, and we find that the company can lose $50 billion with IAS net zero scenario. We ask Equinor to explain to the shareholders how you have arrived at such a low assumption for potential losses connected to a lower oil price. Back to the red figures. We have taken a look at the portfolio of Equinor in a 1.5-degree scenario. And this -- and it's striking to see that hardly any new developments are profitable. You're in a situation where you end up with red figures if you are to succeed with a plan. And if you don't succeed with the plan with the climate targets, we'll have so many worries that we have to deal with that, the quarterly report of an oil company are insignificant. If Equinor's transition to have any credibility, the emissions must be reduced, and you must cancel and stop oil and gas projects, as Rosebank Wisting and offshore in Argentina as well. Sometimes we get the impression that it seems like the management of Equinor hasn't really accepted and understood that you have an enormous power for change. Equinor is the 18th biggest oil and gas company in the world. And since 1971, Equinor has directly and directly produced climate gas emissions corresponding to 6.3 billion tons of CO2, which is 3.5x the emissions from Norway state responsibility for -- responsible for. So the choices will define the climate challenges, investments that you make today and tomorrow will impact the emission situation for decades to come, and it's a great responsibility to bear when you know the great consequences of the climate change. So on this background, we ask for the general meeting to vote against the energy transition plan; and for, and in favor of our proposal. Thank you.

[Interpreted] Let's move to item 13, proposal from shareholder, Greenpeace. And the proposal under item 13 was distributed with the notice of the meeting and is being shown on the screen, so it will not be read out loud. We will now give the floor to representative for the shareholder who has 5 minutes for this presentation, and we'll be reverting to any interventions for item 13 and the vote on this item.

Representing Greenpeace for the Proposition 13. I hope it's okay that I'm taking it in English. You don't want to hear my Norwegian. All right. To limit global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees, the world must have global greenhouse gases emission by 2030. To succeed with that ambitious goal, the world must go through an unprecedented transition from fossil to renewable energy. The IEA and the IPCC are both clear that there is no room for new oil and gas projects if the world is to meet -- to limit the global warming to 1.5 degrees. Equinor, as a large oil-producing company, has to be in the forefront of that transition. Equinor should, as we've suggested, together with WWF, set an ambition to half its absolute emissions by 2030. This would include leaving financially risky projects, such as the Wisting Field. Now looking to become the world northern most oil field, instead we read that Equinor now wants to be the company to extract the last drop of oil, correctly motivated and justified by the sudden urge in needs from Europe. Let us, however, not ignore that Europe, at the same time, is changing gear on their intention to accelerate their transition to clean energy as the report EU plan shows. This is a great opportunity for Equinor to lead the change and be in the forefront of a faster transition towards renewable energies. We believe that shareholders have an interest to abandon the risks associated with the extension of an oil era on the decline. This proposal looks at the risks associated with the extension of -- sorry, this proposal looks at the risk associated with failing to anticipate the reconversion of the oil workers who have brought Equinor to where it is now. Equinor together with the Norwegian state as its main shareholder, has a very important social responsibility to guarantee a sustainable future to its workers. How secure is their future if Equinor takes too much time to develop renewable energy solutions. It's time to act and to show that the transition towards green job matters. Workers in the oil industry have a high level of knowledge and skills, and we often hear that this accumulation of workforce and know-how is the key to the green transition. Equinor is and wants to continue to be an attractive employer. It is critical that Equinor prepares its workforce and does not lock workers inspired to be part of the green transition into a path of dependency, especially in time when oil prices are high. The green market is growing, and the workforce is ready. Yet, Equinor chooses now to increase its fossil fuel production and increase its greenhouse gases emissions in the coming years. We think this risk the future carries of the workforce. In order to prepare for this necessary and abrupt transition, if we believe the latest recommendation of the IPCC, Greenpeace proposes that Equinor takes the initiative to establish a state restructuring form for employees who now work in the oil sector. The skilled workers of the industry, together with our union representatives, should be associated with this effort and lead this transition. With the introduction of the crisis package granted to the oil companies during the corona pandemic, we saw how Equinor, among others, was able to persuade the authorities to institute advantages measures to support their activity in challenging times. Now that petroleum incomes are at a record high for Equinor, it is time to use these extra revenues and influential channels to prepare for the future with the establishment of a state-led transition fund that can help workers throughout the coming shift. The focus should now be on further developing workers for a green and just transition, a transition that will make Equinor a relevant company in a modern energy world. Thank you.

[Interpreted] Thank you very much. We will now move on to item 14, which is a proposal put forward by shareholders, Even Bakke, Bente Marie Bakke, Ketil Lund, Guttorm Grundt and Gro Nylander. And the proposal under Item 14 was distributed with the notice of the AGM. It will be shown on the screen and will not be read out aloud. We will give the floor to the representative of the person shareholders who will read the reporting statement. You have 5 minutes. We'll revert to any questions and comments regarding item 14 and the vote on the proposal.

[Interpreted] My name is [indiscernible], I'm going to explain the grounds of the proposal of the Grand Paris Climate campaigns proposal. Item 1. Equinor should declare the Norwegian sector of the Barents Sea as a voluntary exclusion zone because the Barents Sea is a challenging region with extreme weather conditions. And Equinor is now about to start production on the Johan Castberg production platform, and to build the Visund production platform, located 300 kilometers north of Finnmark and is very close to the winter sea ice edge, which will -- the distance will vary from 220 to 230 kilometers from the coast. It has a very active wise fair and is very vulnerable, has a very active aquatic life. And has too little natural gas there and it needs, therefore, to be electrified with an expensive cable for Hormidas and this will impact the cost of this. And also the emergency preparedness capacity in the Barents Sea has turned out to be not good enough, which was demonstrated by the [indiscernible] at Equinor's [indiscernible] production plant. If we -- there's a big oil spillage in the existing region, it will lead to an environmental catastrophe and cause irreparable damage to Equinor's reputation and the financial stability of the company. The European Human Rights Court has said yes to this case about -- is due to rule on the Norwegian government to confirm it. This could be found in the paragraph 112 in Norwegian constitution. It may have a different result though because the EU has proposed a ban on new oil and gas exploration in the Arctic region, including prohibiting the purchase of oil and gas products from this region. And President Biden, he will bring all of the countries in the Arctic Council on making a moratorium on drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic region. So we see that Equinor's activities in the Norwegian section of the Barents Sea are risky from an environmental perspective, a reputational and financial perspective as well. Of course, if all or parts of the above come true, the consequence of Equinor will be a long-term loss of reputation, reduce shareholder value, et cetera. Item 2, number 1 here, the Equinor's activities outside of Noways has not shown good enough profitability. And there's a high corruption risk in some of the countries, such as Angola, Azerbaijan, Libya, Venezuela and Nigeria and Russia too. Equinor should rather focus on the highly profitable oil and gas business in the established Norwegian sector, excluding the Barents Sea and accelerate further renewables business in wind and solar power. Two, Equinor is currently experiencing strong local protests in Argentina for its seismic sea exploration along the Atlantic Coast. This is an area with a rich aquatic life. The situation is like comparable to the Australian projects, so the self-shore exploration that Equinor had to stop in 2020. Three, as disclosed on March 12, 2022, the major Norwegian business newspaper Dagens Næringsliv, Equinor has had, during the last 20 years, demonstrated inadequate due diligence, risk analysis and compliance with no company and Norwegian government rules and regulations when starting businesses in U.S.A. and developing countries with demonstrated high corruption risks. Overall, these issues could reduce Equinor's long-term share value to its investors, damage its reputation as a company with a stated 0 tolerance for corruption and as an environmentally responsible company. Item 1 here. Currently, Equinor's renewable energy investments constitute only 4% of its annual investments, while 96% is used for oil and gas investments. The plan is to increase the investment to 50% by 2030. Currently, Equinor has an installed renewable energy base of about 0.8 gigawatts. By 2030, the plan is to have an installed base between 12 and 16. It's not long until 2030, but nonetheless, this is an insufficient growth considering the ongoing and accelerating energy transition to renewables. Two, Ørsted A/S is a spinout from the Danish government-owned oil and gas company. They have currently a wind power installed base of 13 gigawatts and plan to increase it to 30 gigawatts by 2030. Last year, we proposed that Equinor should also spin out their renewable energy business to create a much more valuable company, but this was voted down at the AGM. So the Equinor share price has had a poor development than the Russian share price. Three, CO2 emissions resulting from Equinor sales of oil and gas is about 250 million tonnes per year, and now increasing significantly due to the energy crisis. This is about 8x the total CO2 emissions of Norway. As far as we can see, Equinor has not so far presented a detailed net 0 emissions plan in 2050. By accelerating investments in renewable energy and reducing investments in oil and gas, the company will move faster, we believe, towards net 0 emissions go by 2050. By greatly accelerating investments in renewables, Equinor will secure long-term share value for its investors, improve its ESG position and reach its net 0 emissions go faster. So we also suggested that the current Board of Director, Chairman of the Board should not be reelected, but it was reelected because it's not the AGM here that select the Chair, but it is the corporate assembly of Equinor. So we will then send the proposal and justification behind it to the corporate assembly. And finally, I would like to go back in time a little bit to the AGM in 2009. We all were presented with a proposal where green piece suggested that they should cut the tar sand project, but only half -- 1.5 primarily voted in favor of us. Hilde Røed said it was an important project and the Board noted and in agreement. But the states representative was quite as a mouse. Year after year, the proposal was presented but the Board said the same thing. Primarily Equinor is considering the financial situation. Sustainability is not so important. However, several years after this one changes tone, it was a mistake with this oil sand, we will withdraw. It was a very expensive lesson and it costs us thousands of millions and goodwill and demonstrations, and it continued. But the stage was -- it was quiet as a mouse and the green proposals were voted against. So changing the name from start of the Equinor didn't matter. We need a change of content. Now please wake up. Now you must do the right thing because we're now in 2022 and the future what will happen. Listen to us old people. We know that the oil and gas area is soon over, you have to go for renewables now and to a much greater degree than this Board has ambitions for. So how our ambitions, please? Renewables will be profitable. So we do not suggest something which is naive, but this is realistic. Remember the oil sand and what happened with it. And do remember, too -- I'm sorry, can I just -- so please, it doesn't really matter if you don't completely split the oil sands and leave the northern regions alone, where the fish and bird live. These things should be protected. So the AGM of Equinor, please listen to our words. Thank you.

Thank you very much. We will move to Item 15, a proposal from shareholder [ Benta Maria Baka ]. The proposal under Item 15 was distributed with the notice of the meeting and is being shown on the screen, so it will not be read aloud. And the shareholder has 5 minutes and we remind you to observe the deadline so that everyone has a possibility to make their interventions. You have the floor.

Yes. Thank you, dear shareholders on the screen. You see the full proposal that I'm submitting on behalf of the National Board of the Grand Paris Climate Action. Well, there are a series of highly educated people in our generation and an increasing number of people are actually dedicating themselves on behalf of the grandchildren's climate future, and it doesn't look bright. If shareholders continue to support Equinor's climate nature and child hostile future by continuing to explore for oil and gas. None of us could have envisaged Russia's brutal attack on Ukraine. And therefore, it's positive that Equinor and Norway are now being able to export more oil and gas to Europe, but that cannot justify exploring for further oil and gas on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. After the war is over, we don't need more fossil fuels, but we need a reduced energy consumption and transition to renewable sources. The IPCC keep presenting increasingly on our main reports that fossil fuels have resulted in deadly global warming and the situation is exacerbating. So we have a nature and climate crises, combined. And Russia's war against Ukraine has, on top of tragic human toll, also resulted in war actions with huge emissions. And also, the grain production in Ukraine that also supplies the whole world is also impacted. This has resulted in further demand for fossil fuels, weapon systems, aviation and other transport sectors need more energy. Some have said that they even consider Norway to be a war profitier. Maybe this impression can be impaired if more money is invested in reducing the carbon footprint conserving our nature and also to promote small-scale food production. We must remember that Equinor is the oil company on Norwegian people, Norwegian citizens own 67% of the shares, up to 70%. If we include the shares of the Folketrygdfondet, and our interest should be safeguarded by the Ministry of Oil & Energy and the government. As a shareholder and as a citizen, I'm left with the impression that it is the interest of the oil industry that are safeguarded not the citizens, no future generations. It is therefore a lot of concern when I see that Equinor and the Norwegian State has invested a great deal of Norwegian future funds on projects abroad that ruins the climate and nature. Norway cannot accept responsibility for this large-scale pollution and also that Equinor's projects in other countries increase global warming. António Guterres UN Secretary General believe that all exploration for more oil and gas must -- and if we are to be able to attain the Paris agreement goals. He believes that one must consider it a criminal offense. If we continue to actually not stand up for the government, but Equinor doesn't care about this. The government keep awarding oil and gas licenses even in pristine and vulnerable uptake, and according to Per-Kristian Foss, there were no inspectors there. The worst example is the Wisting field. And of course, shareholders and all sensible people must simply oppose it. If that field is put on stream, then it will continue to deliver oil for many years after the world targeted net zero and 2050. And in addition, I mean, this would be unprofitable. If it hadn't been for the Parliament's NOK 100,000 billion in tax relief. The Equinor and the government have plans for electrification of oil production on the Norwegian Continental Shelf cutting domestic greenhouse gas emissions in compliance with the Paris agreement. But this should not be done by providing more petroleum platforms with power from shore. We're now experiencing a serious electricity crisis, with an all-time high prices in large parts of Mainland, Norway. Instead, existing petroleum platforms must be electrified through the development of offshore wind turbines. This could involve a step change for Equinor with regard to developing new renewable energy. Offshore wind for the electrification of petroleum platforms will also be possible for Norwegian industry and these wind turbines must have increased the reliability of electricity supply for Norway and Europe when the platforms are no longer producing. We -- the grandparents action, we look forward to Equinor's plans for being a leader in the development of renewable energy. And here, it's important that many of current oil workers engineers can then transition to renewable sectors because we know that it will not progress because of the shortages of expertise and skilled persons who can take us and the Equinor into the future that will not ruin the conditions for life for our grandchildren and future generation.

We'll continue Item 16, a proposal put forward by shareholder group and distributed with the notice of AGM will be shown on the screen and will not be read out allowed. We give the floor to the proposing shareholder who will present for 5 minutes, and we'll revert to any questions and comments regarding my team later. Thank you, very all of you.

I'm here from Concerned Scientists National from the doctors [indiscernible] and from the Grandparents Climate Campaign. Recently, I -- recently came across a character, mainly as a shareholder, I feel deeply uncomfortable as a shareholder in Equinor that is. It shows a couple of leaders from the oil industry are listening to a group of scientists, waving tablets and graphs trying to be head, shouting, boiling the planet. The oil people, smile it up, and they answer. We know but it's very lucrative. Another unpleasant slogan that is regularly directed at Equinor too is, there are no jobs on planet. Is that how the world sees our company? Many shareholders do not appreciate that image. We, shareholders, follow developments in Equinor with excitement and look forward to increased efforts in wind, solar, CCS and the electrification of the Norwegian shelf, preferably with offshore wind. But as happy as I am about Equinor's investment in renewable energy, just disappointed am I? That the investment even the last few years has been so miserably small. The figures for the future are quite a bit misleading from the annual report. A small number remains small, even if you multiply it. Given a continued constant oil and gas production in 2030, this will be approximately 10x the size of the projected renewable production. If I have my figures correctly. So as happy as I am to learn about these new plans, just as disappointed about the measures taken, still promise too little, too late. According to international research and the UN's red alert. A group of Equinor shareholders is in direct contact with BlackRock. You -- most of you know that it's one of the world's largest investment companies and major shareholder in Equinor. BlackRock's Chairman, Larry Fink makes it clear to us the BlackRock is increasingly concerned and they will invest in companies that are focusing on sustainability. It's increasingly concerned with ESG, environmental, social and governance. Shareholders such as we have to consider brand reputation, but we should also consider corporate finance, of course. And we do appreciate that oil has made Norway rich, but now we need to start thinking differently because now we know, do not let Equinor get into the same situation as the tobacco industry in the United States, which was ordered to pay billions in compensations to health victims because the company has continued the lobbying for cigarettes after they knew how harmful tobacco can be. In the last 6 years, more than 1,000 and oil companies allegedly that have been food for climate damaging activities. As a medical doctor, I perhaps know more than most people here the unimaginable health problem, this inflicts on the both population and changes also being in Norway. Air quality, flood landslides, draft, et cetera. It's not a part of the future. It is happening here and now. And in any case, you clever boys, solar and wind are on the way to outcompeting oil and gas in terms of price. Over the next decade or 2, maybe that Equinor may be left with stranded assets with the values and assets that nobody are interested in and products that are in little demand. All Norwegians own a small part of Equinor that delivers the best results in a long time because of the war in Ukraine mentioned by others. It will then be reasonable that many of these billions will be used on renewables. After world war II, the Norwegian government negotiable government, which had been in exile in London was heavily criticized. The speaker of the Norwegian Parliament Carl Joachim Hambro, who have stayed in Norway during the war. He stated, they did their best. Therein lies there excuse and therein lies the verdict. Do not let the same be said about Equinor's activity and its operations in this climate-critical time. In conclusion, I ask this general assembly. What good is a company if it becomes the world's richest, but damages our own us forever. Thank you. Then I have one question to the Chair since there was another person who did the same. I would like to comment and a counter proposal for Item 10, the plan for energy transition, is this the right time to do it?

Thank you. Well, it's well known that the government has started the plan with a new ownership report, which will soon be published, and it's going to be about why and what the state should own. At the same time, how the state is to exercise its ownership. And some shareholders regarded as quite inappropriate, the Board of Equinor asks the AGM to give its endorsement to the way that the Board believes that the stay should exercise its ownership in the company. As presented by the energy constitution plan, it would be peculiar if the state's representative did not vote in favor of the following counterproposal, which is the AGM ask the Board to present an updated energy transition for the company after the new ownership report has been adopted by the parliament. The Board's plan for energy condition should be based upon the financial and industrial pre-conditions that the parliament base is itself upon for the state's ownership in the company. So this is a counter proposal to Item 10. I hand it to the chair. And if someone else here wants a copy, I will give it to you now. She's off mic, so we interrupter cannot hear what you're saying. The state's representative, where are you? There you are, you're a young man, you have the future ahead of you.

Thank you. We will continue and move to Item 17, a proposal from shareholder [indiscernible]. The proposal under Item 17 was distributed with the notice and is being shown on the screen, so it will not be read allowed and I'll give the floor to the shareholder who has 5 minutes for his presentation, and I'll come back with other interventions.

Yes. Thank you. I mean Equinor is currently benefiting from the bonanza of a lifetime in the fossil market, boosting revenues to record levels and the same for profits. So shareholders should be pleased thank the Board of Directors and be happy to increase the bonuses of the company executives. But not everyone is pleased because it's not only the Board we should thank in that case, but President Putin and his immoral war against the people of Ukraine. This has created an unsustainable market hyped up by the war and an economic super profit that shouldn't benefit as the shareholders of Ukraine and its brave people. Equinor must, of course, in this situation, maintained and even increased its production of oil and gas from existing wells and facilities, but not explore for new fossil energy resources, neither offshore nor onshore, abroad or at home. Getting those on stream will take many years and be of little use. This will not be appropriate neither for the planet nor for Equinor. According to the last report from the intergovernmental panel on climate change, the temperature will -- even if the nation's emission reduction targets reported to the UN are achieved, not only exceed the 1.5 degree goal but also the 2-degree target for global heating. The company emissions from Equinor's oil and gas production and sales totaled about 250 million tonnes or 8x the total carbon emissions in Norway. In order to be sustainable, Equinor must move the investments into new development and production from fossil to renewable energy. Increased focus on renewable energy should not come in addition to, but replace oil and gas. Today, Equinor's investments in renewable energy account for only about 5% of annual investments and is so slow. And I have to also stay to one view. This is a tenth year in row that I'm standing here. Well, I'm not standing here, but promoting and submitting proposals and asking Equinor to take into account the serious future and also to progress its transition from fossil to renewables. And every year, the Board has advised the general meeting to vote against the proposal because these decisions have already been made and implemented. But still, the company hasn't come any further. It's only valued 5% of investments that are in renewables, while 95% still go to oil and gas. Exploration and production of oil and gas. I and the Grandparents climate campaign is very disappointed that Equinor contributes to sabotaging the IPCC's goal without the Board or the main shareholder the Norwegian state, except the criticism and do not succeed in changing the course, both the change of names and the efforts seem to be more on the simple level symbolic than real. And therefore, you should take the step to invest where it really matters, both where it will have an important effect and where namely that we invest in renewables and that we also benefit Ukraine, which is suffering a crisis. And against this backdrop, I ask the general meeting to support my proposal. Thank you.

Thank you. We move on to Item 18, verses proposal has been distributed with the notice of the AGM. It will be shown on the screen and will not be read out allowed, and then [indiscernible] from Equinor Communication Department will read the porting statement by the shareholder, and we will revert to any questions or comments regarding this item and the vote on it later. Thank you.

I'm going to read the supporting statement of [indiscernible]. It's a proposal from shareholders that gradually divest from all international operations. In any commercial company, it should be a prerequisite that the company's owners are aware of the company's strategy and are well acquainted with the risks associated with the business. Equinor [indiscernible] was established to build, control and contribute to ensuring that the petroleum activities on the Norwegian continental shelf were carried out for the benefit of Norwegian interest. Since the beginning of the 1990s, activities have gradually increased outside of Norway's borders, First, with the participation in international petroleum activities and in recent years, participation in the development and production of so-called renewable energy. International operations have not been without significant losses and are associated with considerable risk. Approximately some 70% Equinor is owned by the Norwegian state and ownership is managed by the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy on behalf of the Norwegian Parliament. A few or none in these bodies have in-depth knowledge of the business Equinor operates. Assessments of risks are mainly carried out by persons with little or no ownership interest in the company. I will now read [indiscernible] reply to the Board's response to his proposal. Good day, fellow. [indiscernible] is a well-known phrase from Norwegian folktale. It is it typically describes people talking cross purposes or more specifically a man giving an answer to a question which was never asked. The Board Directors responds to my item 20 -- sorry, 18 is such an answer. It does not address the grounds of my proposal. My proposal raises the issue that Equinor is a company with a few or none of the representatives of the main owners of the company have any understanding of or are well acquainted about the risks and consequences associated with the company's operations, particularly abroad. This is left entirely to the company's administration and Board who have minimal ownership interests in the company. It would be interesting to hear the opinion of the habitually mutual representative of the company's main owner. It should be a prerequisite that the representatives of the main owner are well acquainted and aware of the risks and consequences. This is the reason for my proposal as a step I propose that Equinor divests from all international operations, starting with renewable energy. It was not expected that the Board would endorse my proposal, but at least I have raised the issue.

Thank you. We now move to Item 19, the last proposal from a shareholder and it comes from shareholder Per Henning Lerstad and the proposal under Item 19 was distributed with a notice is being shown on the screen, so we will not be readout. And I remind you that you have 5 minutes for your presentation, and we'll be reverting to intervention and vote.

The Board says that risk-free safety and anti-corruption activity has a top priority in Equinor. They make reference to general provisions on the reporting accounts and other information. The Board led that if the risk level is too high. Well, then the project should be exited or shelved. So how high should the level of risk be? Could you be more concrete? And what specific plans, what countries do you refer to? And what is the program for business integrity, increased training, raising awareness of amongst employees, how is it developed. Nevertheless, the Board doesn't say why public authorities repeatedly have criticized and examined and pointed out a lack of maintenance of expertise, training failure of leadership, lack of HSE, risk management that has resulted in nonconformities, fires and Norwegian facility or Equinor facilities in Norway and abroad. And also, they have postponed the required maintenance, nor does the Board respond to and explain which concrete action plans that Equinor has had for not getting involved in foreign high-risk projects during the past 2 decades. It has been revealed by the media, money laundering, human rights violations in Libya as Azerbaijan, Nigeria to mention some. The Equinor's response, no answer to major disasters abroad, lack of capital discipline and also cost overruns at Martin Linge and Johann Castberg to mention some several authorities and audits have criticized Equinor for poor follow-up and monitoring, violation of human rights and OECD regulations. Against this background, it is rather untenable that the Board recommends to vote against the proposal to outline a more specific detailed action plan for quality assurance and anticorruption in the company. What are the concrete learning and improvement points? Equinor's own internal audit as earlier in 2019, criticized the anticorruption work in part of the company. All parts are, of course, better served with better information, trust and reputation, with more focused financial control and monitoring that almost 100,000 shareholders in the company will benefit from -- and here, I refer to the moderators comments to Item 10, and we can do that later. Yes, you can come back on Item 10 or so later with interventions. I will do that. We will now move to interventions and comments to the CEO's report and the Chairman of the Board and all the other presentations. And before I let you go to the rostrum and address any interventions that have been received via Lumi IGMI. I want to give a few initial comments. Initially, I want to comment to note that pursuant to Section 15 of the Public Limited Liability Companies Act. The general meeting is not a natural forum for putting questions to or ask for comments from other shareholders, including from the state presented by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. Furthermore, I would also like to remind you of the fact that we have received a document from the state where they ask for an addendum to the minutes on the Item 6, approval of the annual report and the Board of board report for financial year 2021. And on the Item 10, energy transition plan. And I wish to record these 2 addendums before we open the floor for further interventions the addendum to -- from the Ministry of Trade history and Fisheries related to Item 6 has the following wording. In the ownership dialogue the state as an owner emphasizes that the company's capital structure supports sufficient goal achievement the state's goal as an owner of Equinor ASA is to achieve the highest possible return over time. See white paper #8, the state's direct ownership of company, sustainable value creation or the ownership report. The ministry refers to the high natural gas prices Equinor has realized recently, contributing to the company's very strong capitalization. We also refer to the company's own net debt ratio to capital employed ambition. As a known, the state finds it important that this be emphasized in the decisions made by Equinor's Board going forward concerning dividend and capitalization. The Board is responsible for the company's capital structure, but decisions at the Annual General Meeting about dividends and capital changes will affect the capital structure. This text that is an addendum from the ministry related to Item 6, will, in its entirety be included in the minutes. I now move to an addendum pertaining to Item 10, the energy transition plan. The state as an owner is positive to the company presenting an energy transition plan. This will give shareholders and the market a better informed position from which to assess, among other things, risk opportunities, capital allocated, positioning and pacing the transition to a lower carbon a low carbon energy company towards 2050. The state, among other things, basis its voting on the company's information that the long-term value creation supports the goals of the Paris agreement and the 1.5 degree trajectory. The plan will be presented to the shareholders for advisory vote at the general meeting in the state's view. This means that it is the company Board and the administration that are responsible for the company's strategy, including for this plan and for initiating the necessary measures, including investments and priorities to follow this up and to achieve the company's climate targets. The company showed in the Ministry of Trade Industry and Fisheries view be as transparent as possible about the status of the work during the planned period. The state as an owner believes that the plan as an owner -- believes that the plan should be updated more frequently than every 3 years in the event of significant changes of assumptions framework conditions, market develop or good industry practice. The state as an owner expects the company to closely monitor the development. Equinor's plan for the transition to a low carbon energy company should contribute to high long-term value creation for the owners. Equinor's transition may also help develop new green industries, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and develop long-term value-generating jobs in Norway. This takes that is an addendum from the Norwegian State represented by the Ministry related to Item 10. Well, its entirety be included in a minute. We'll now move to other items that is to give interventions or comments to the presentations you've heard, and in order for everyone to have the opportunity to take the floor, we want to ask you to be brief and observe the time frame of up to 3 minutes. I now ask that if you want the floor, please raise a hand. Well, there was one over there. All right. Actually, I think I will give the floor to you. If you can move up to the rostrum, state your name and your case. And all the rest of you, if you will continue to signal with your hands, we will make a note of your name, and we will call you.

Thank you very much. It is a real privilege to be here today. My name is Gretchen Fitzgerald, and I'm National Programs Director with Sierra Club Canada Foundation. I grew up in a town in Newfoundland and Labrador, about 40 kilometers away from where, as we put it, the Vikings landed about 1,000 years ago. So it's always been a dream and aspiration for me to come here to Norway, and it's truly beautiful to be here. But I have to be honest, I wish I didn't have to come here and ask you not to do Bay du Nord a disastrous new oil drilling project off of my home province in Newfoundland and Labrador. Although I am here alone, I am not really alone. 126 organizations in Canada have asked for Bay du Nord nor to be canceled representing a rest of thousands of Canadians. Bednar was approved just days after the UN Secretary General declared that investments in new fossil fuel projects, our moral and economic madness. There is simply no room left in the global carbon budget for Bay du Nord. The 1 billion barrels, perhaps more that Equinor would produce from this project is equivalent to this company, putting 7 million to 10 million new gas-fired cars on the road every year for which it operates, which could be on the order of decades. Here in Stavanger, here in Norway, I know that's not the way you want to go. There's electric vehicles everywhere. Please help the rest of the world not go that way as well. I also want you to know that in addition to contributing to the climate emergency, the rules for oil drilling in my home country of Canada are much more lax than here, as are the responsibility for companies to make sure that the broader society benefits from such resources. In the case of this project, Equinor's own assessment says that it would take a capping 18 to 36 days to get a capping stack on site. During that time, oil could be spilling uncontrollably into the North Atlantic, catastrophe for fisheries and for ocean life, noise from seismic blasting and drilling for decades would be devastating for marine mammals in the area. Some of whom are threatened and endangered including the Northern bottlenose whale. And I am not speaking in hypotheticals when I speak about these risks. In 2018, you're a partner in this project, Husky Energy, had the biggest oil spill in the history of the East Coast of Canada. The year before that, they had a near miss with an iceberg because the company failed to link, it's from the wellhead in time. Fortunately, they did so, but it was a close call. And unlike here in Norway, we do not have a track record for requiring oil companies to show that they will not damage the environment before they drill. We do not have a good record of ensuring the benefits from drilling benefit the broader society. This is why ourselves, Sierra Club Canada Foundation, our colleagues at [indiscernible] Ecotare and represented by Ecojustice, the largest ember justice organization in Canada are announcing today that we are questioning the approval of this project in court. We do not believe the environmental assessment for this project took many of these risks into account and in particular, the climate risk. Today now in St. John's, Newfoundland, people are standing up in front of your offices, asking for this project to be canceled. Also today, Norway announced an ambitious new plan to roll out offshore wind. By canceling Bay du Nord, Equinor could help protect us all from the climate catastrophe. It could also use its expertise, particularly in offshore wind. It's familiarity with risky new environments to bring on what's best and what will benefit all. The first, you have to do what's right. You have to cancel this project. Please cancel Bay du Nord. Thank you.

Thank you. We pass the floor to the next person who would like to say something that's [indiscernible]. And we do remind you that please stick to 3 minutes, all of you who want to make a comment, so that we could stay on time with our agenda. The floor is yours.

The general meeting has been asked to endorse the company's energy transition plan. I believe it would be wrong to do so because the plan is based upon unrealistic goals and also the plan is unrealistic in terms of how to achieve the goals. The energy transition plan entails that to begin with the company's CO2 emission shall be reduced by 20% in 2030, also including emissions from oil and gas sold, so-called Scope 3 emissions. Several shareholders have asked questions about how the company will go about achieving this, particularly in regards to Scope 3 emissions. I have based my comment upon an approach in which CO2 emissions shall be compensated by the production of renewable electricity plus emission cutting measures planned by Equinor and/or the uses of the company's products and which to a significant degree will concern carbon capture and storage. Considering 2030, if we base our assumptions upon the lowest estimate for planned electricity capacity of 12 to 16 gigawatts and electricity production of around 45 terawatt hours. This renewable electricity may compensate for approximately half of the CO2 reduction in 2030. If we, at the same time, assume that the company's oil and gas production in reduced from today's 100 to 90 million tonnes of oil equivalents. Assuming that the remaining reduction in 2030 comes from carbon capture and storage. This means that company and/or the users of the company's fossils products in 2013 was store 25 million tonnes of CO2 corresponding to approximately half of today's Norwegian emissions. The go for emission reductions in 2030 may be achieved in theory, but not in practice. It is unrealistic. If we move to 2035, the reduction of emissions shall be doubled. And to put it simply, the task will be twice as hard at least and thus, even more unrealistic in practice. The goal for 2015 is net 0 emissions, which means that the total emission from the company's fossil production at year shall in its entirety be compensated with CO2 reducing measures. If we assume that in 2015, the company's production of oil and glass gas is reduced from today's 100 million to 50 million tonnes of oil equivalents. And we once again precipice that half of the emissions are to be compensated with wind power and solar power. This will entail an increase of installed electric capacity from 12 to 16 gigawatts in 2030 to almost 40 gigawatts in 2015. And if the remainder of the emission cuts is to come from carbon capture and storage. It means that you must store more than 70 million tonnes of CO2 per year. And all of this meant to happen in the 28 years to come. My conclusion, based upon the above approach, is that the plan is too theoretical in nature and probably we made us in order to please the politicians and that it is far from what is realistically attainable. Finally, the plans should be subject to a full reality check. Thank you very much.

Thank you, [indiscernible]. Next speaker.

Yes. So the energy transition plan was not submitted along with the annual general meeting plans and it describes long-term plans, ambitions and targets in alignment with the Paris agreement. But as pointed out by Equinor themselves, these statements made on future oriented, but they are associated with considerably risk and uncertainty. Nevertheless, I'm being referred to this plan in the Board's response that to consistently recommend that you vote against all shareholder proposal today. In the climate action, in 2019. The Supreme Court said that we would need to assess the future climate effects of oil. And the control body of the Norwegian Parliament believes that this judgment implies that the state needs to prove that future oil drilling does not -- are not in conflict with the climate agreement or future projects. I've said that the plans for can serve mainly apply to offshore installations in Norway and then mainly by electrification for sure. We know that this is very politically contentious in Norway. We will have a very limited supply of energy onshore and also to the high energy sectors, and therefore, we cannot reduce the supply of onshore power. I have personally talked to Minister of Energy, Mr. [ Weston ], and he wants more transparency and more trust in a more active and professional management of Equinor in a green company based on the sovereign wealth fund model that is world-class. I find you I remind you of the sovereign wealth fund and you could also then set up a restructuring fund. And I mean the representative of the state has a 60% stake. What do they believe of this proposal from their own minister, only 1% of today's energy produced by Equinor and only 4% of current investments go to renewable. As the previous speaker said that it seems very unrealistic that just in the course of 3 years and 30% of investment by Equinor should go to renewables by 2025 and 30% by 2030. And Equinor, the way we see it has not presented a detailed action plan and overview of concrete implementation for how they can cut this in order to achieve net 0 by 2050. And therefore, this plan needs to be updated every single year and put an advisory vote and not every 3 years as suggested by the Board. And also every year, you should report on a commitment towards making progress in alignment with the plan. And therefore, we then propose that this plan is postponed until you can further work on it until next year. One comment regarding the Wisting field. This was shelved in 2020 because of a lack of profitability. Nevertheless, the need for new income structure, then means that projects in the Barents Sea are more vulnerable to lower oil prices. And if it drops further, then the result of the last 20 years of exploration easily end up negative. And therefore, the development of we think that the investment of NOK 70 million could actually have constructed 14 big port areas such as [ Hywind Tampen ] and also electrification of [ Melkøya ] just to mention a few because the production from listing could also result in 200 million tonnes of carbon emissions that is equivalent to emissions from 50 coal-powered stations.

Thank you very much. [indiscernible] next. The floor is yours.

Yes. Dear AGM, management [indiscernible], is my name, I'm a shareholder. I'm also an employee with Equinor. I'm also a union representative. And I can say that big parts of the employees are backing the plans in Item 10. I will comment upon this. We support the main features of this plan for several reasons and I can promise. The hole here that this has been discussed vigorously with the management, and we have arrived at the conclusion that the plan is a good one in the long-term run, and we've chosen to back it. The strategy overall, both in relation to oil and gas, but also renewable is supported by us. My comments will be related to the renewable part. I would also like to comment that who talk about the stock of oil and cuts more than 20 million barrels this year, this world is going to petrochemical industry, not for consumption. It's 10 more than what we produce. For instance, making tooth processes or making electric cars. We need oil for much more than what you might believe. Petrochemical Industries also is the one which is increasing the most in terms of extracting oil for products. The Chairman of the Board gave way to the fact that many of the measures were connected to the emissions, not the folks going forward. We would like the industry in Norway within renewables should increase. We would like to create a bigger supply industry, which can bring this out into the world and that we can become greater on this in the international market. I believe that the management should take on board that ambition should be made stronger. For many reasons, we can become a big player within energy production, and we believe that is important. We would like that we use the industrial experience that we have and the competence in the capital, which is now significant to grow more and to accelerate our growth to create energy. We've not talked much about the fact that population on the globe is increasing at 8 million per year. It's 15x the population of Norway. It's a huge challenge for the energy situation and consumption. We can become a big player as a company in the field of while creating energy, producing energy in several ways, more than oil and gas. But we do back the overall plan, and I actually believe that the people present here in the room should do that, too. And we should trust that the management together with the 20,000 employees in the company will achieve this.

Thank you. And then we have [ Edward Hallead ], the next speaker. First, [ Edward Hallead ] if there are any further speakers, you may take the floor afterwards.

My name is [ Edward Hallead ]. I worked for 50 -- I have been 50 years on [indiscernible] Stock Exchange, we have been a shareholder in many companies, and with varying results. I also bought shares in 1971 Statoil then had its IPO. And of course, they grew quickly. And then the Ministry of Finance then said that we need to take control of the company, and they will grant the 67% stake. It's important that everyone here act as managers of Equinor and you need to outperformance that is your task. And I have no doubt that this is something you know. Well, actually, there was some change in what I actually intended to say, but I need to tell you plainly the criticism voiced I'm quite sure that there's a lot of truth in it. But I think it is important that this criticism is nuanced. I've also followed the developments in Equinor. Now I'm only a shareholder. And I want to tell all critics. I mean we all need to be a bit critical, but I assume that we should also have trust. Some of the things that I hear -- well, I mean, it seems as if they should join the management and try to do better. But we mustn't forget that the state has a 67% stake in the company. And you can say and do whatever you want, but the state can intervene and say, no, we're not doing it. So each and every one of us must be aware of this. And when we talk about pollution, I mean, when we talk about pollution in Ukraine and when we see what things look like there and how the environment is damaged. We all know who initiated the roll. And I mean, the person who started the war, well, I stopped saying his name because it would be like swearing in [ church ]. So this is simply not to try to actually be very positive vis-a-vis the management committee, but you exited Russia and you left maybe 10 million investments. And I mean -- there were some scores and ratings given and Equinor was given the top rating, it's a bit interesting with this buyback issue. And as on went out and said that. We hope that the share price will increase, and it probably has increased because of developments in Ukraine. And I mean I'm thinking that, all right, while he's responsible vis-a-vis the Norwegian state. But I mean the state will just sit back because they will not let this excellent company loose. There's no doubt that this company will also be successful in the future, but I have a question before I leave. And yesterday -- I'm a day trader. And yesterday, I bought Equinor shares on a declining price and over dinner. Then it suddenly increased. And then I sold, and I made NOK 1,500 from that transaction. So Equinor has roughly a 40% return on the investments. I have 30% and also stock exchange can reported just above 0 returns. But to go back on track, what I did with my transaction, what is the use of that for Equinor, I mean, I benefit, but does it matter to you that shareholders like me. I mean, even though I made some money yesterday then I still have the shares held is my investment something that means that you can benefit from my investments.

Well, I think that you will have to conclude, and we also have other names on the list of speakers. Maybe you can come back if need be.

Well, yes, because I mean, of course, I'm focused on me making money, but I want them to be meaning and point to it.

Moderate. All right. Thank you. There is a stairs on your side that you can leave the rostrum. Please use this. Thank you.

Right. There was another thing. Thank you very much. I wanted just to make a brief comment saying that some of the proposals here have and want to stop to produce on existing fields. We are here talking about stopping the exploration activities for oil and gas in line with what the UN Secretary General say and the International Energy Agency says. Equinor. Please take seriously what I'm saying.

Thank you very much. What didn't we sign you up.

Right? And you're the final speaker, the floor is yours.

[indiscernible] It's my name and I work for Equinor since first November 2006. I hope that the AGM can take a look at what Anders Opedal has presented and that you support what the AGM has said. That was what I wanted to say. Thank you. Thank you very much.

All right. It seems like we have received all questions and comments. We have also received 2 comments from Lumi participants and I will -- there was also a counter proposal from [indiscernible] regarding Item 10, and that's a proposal from the floor. We will come back to that when we conduct the vote on Item 10. But we've also received a proposal to Item 10, namely that the Board presents a societal reality assessment of the Wisting field, and then presented to the AGM in 2023. This is a new proposal. We can't put it to the vote today. But as for this item, maybe, Anders, you have a brief comment. Yes. As for the plan of operation and development. Well, the it will be [indiscernible] in 2022 and then it will be addressed by the government and then it will be discussed in Parliament. All the topics that were mentioned in the questions against the electrification will also be elucidated in the PDO that we submitted and that we submit to the parliament for discussion and for them to deal with it. But I also want to say that traditionally, when we have developed field on Norwegian continental shelf. We have used gas, either produce gas or gas associated with the oil to electrify but we can't do that in Wisting field because there's no associated gas to operate the field and therefore, electrification from sure, is critical for that project to be developed. But again, this will all be highlighted and elucidated when we submitted the PDO, and by the parliament. We have also received a question regarding diversity and nominees to the Board of Directors. The Board will be elected by the corporate assembly and that will take place in 2022 and '23. It is possible for you to submit nominees to corporate assembly and you find guidance for how to do that on the Equinor's website. Anders, do you have a brief comment?

Yes. As for diversity and inclusions in the administration of the company and among the employees, we work systematically to ensure diversity and inclusion. Everyone working for Equinor should feel sure that they can be themselves. And we also implement that in the recruitment processes and also engagement service and in talks and also when we select executives. It is also important that in all context that employees can be frank and that small signals and indications also come up so that they feel that they can say whatever they want to and that they can also be part of the discussion ongoing that we need in the company. Thank you.

Also, [indiscernible] will then give a brief summarizing topic that also summarizes this.

I'll talk Thank you very much, [indiscernible]. I would like to thank you all for your commitment and engagement to the general meeting as in previous years. Particularly, we see that this is centered around our energy transition. This is -- the plan is a new product, and we would like discussion and the refinement of the plan and input to it. And our ambition is to show that this plan how to transition the company to towards 2050. And it's going to be more specific as we move along in time, and we know more. There's still much yet, which is unknown around technology and society development. So we have to relate to this. And as I've said, we use this plan as a basis for dialogue with investors and other stakeholders in order to get feedback. It's easy to have an opinion on a project that already exists and saying, yes or no to feedback that comes from external sources. But of course, we also bring those on board. Ahead of the general meeting, this dialogue has provided us with much important feedback from shareholders also today. Some feel that the plan is not ambitious enough. We've heard that. Others believe that the ambitions allow us to assume a leading role in the peer group that we belong in the energy industry, and we work regularly towards strengthening our ambitions, and we have raised the bar on several areas. And we're going to do that still when we see what is possible, but we try to be realistic to -- for what we base our activities on, and we have tough assessments on possible measures, cost and effect, and we will create value in the long-term run. So we have an ambitious plan to what's net zero. We believe it's necessary for the company, and it will be necessary in order for Equinor to create value in the long-term run. The energy conversion plan is scheduled to be updated every few years. We hear what you say about this. Of course, if there are significant changes in circumstances and plans, we can revert to the plan and make changes before. And this doesn't mean that we stand still for 3 years because we have a 3-year plan. We're going to report this on an annual basis. And we're going to continue to develop our ambitions and the company vis-a-vis the market possibilities that we see. And I do realize that you are impatient. We are impatient, too. There are projects that we could start up, but they wouldn't be profitable for us. And this is an important thing we have to bear in mind. It's tempting to use the money that we have, but we have discipline. We need profitability. It needs to be profitable what we do. A couple of times, people have mentioned that the shares of CapEx per now is 4% to 5% of the total. In 2022, as far as I understand, it will be 20%. So we are on a good pathway towards the 50% that we have mentioned for 2030. So we are now in a situation with a war in Ukraine and energy crisis in Europe. And this shows the important role of this company as a predictable supplier of energy to the European market and removing the supply of oil and gas now would only aggravate the critical situation of many countries are already facing, not only in Europe but also in several poor countries around the world that needs energy in order to create development and growth. At the same time, we considerably increased investments in renewables and low-carbon solutions. And you see this in the figures that we have shown you. It increases year-by-year, gross investments that's in renewables. And some point out, that Equinor's current energy production is primarily fossil energy production. And that is correct. But this also serves to illustrate the big task that we have ahead of us, which we are ready to take on and to work with. The world will need more energy, more -- much more renewable energy in the short term, but also more oil and gas also in the long -- short-term run. However, it takes time before the decisions that we made today make an impact on gigawatt hours and tons of CO2 stored these long development processes. So when power projects such as Dogger Bank, Empire Wind, Beacon Wind and Baltic will stop productions, and they will contribute to Equinor's transition. At the same time, we will expand several oil and gas projects where we find that profitable and robust in the long-term run. And we are very focused on down payments in the short term run given the climate risk and the development in these products. And we do believe to that even in the most ambitious scenarios, in the effort to reach the 1.5 degrees target, oil and gas will still be part of the energy mix. And then it is important that it is produced in a way which yields as low emissions as possible. And we believe that this is what our projects do. And I -- unfortunately, I cannot comment upon the trading on Oslo Stock Exchange is not our role. And it's not -- and we cannot do that. But I do appreciate the support in the comment. And for other comments, introductions and shareholder proposals, I refer to what was said, the CEO and myself, at the opening of the debate. With these words, I thank you for your attention.

Thank you, Joe. We will now close the floor for questions or comments to item 6, 7, 9 and 10 and the shareholder proposals 11 through 19. And then we have been sitting here quite intensely for 2.5 hours. We have 9 minutes break, and we reconvene at 18:40, that's 6:40. [Break]

All right. The time is 6:41. And we see that most people are now returning in from a brief break. We thank you for coming back on time. We would like to continue proceedings and please take your seats. Thank you. That brings us back to Item 6 and the approval of the annual accounts and the Board of Directors report for 2021. I now give the floor to thank the authorized public accountant, [indiscernible] from EY who will read exams from the auditor's report for 2021. You have the floor.

Thank you. General Meeting. I would like to read the result of the audit report. It's 6 pages, so we don't read all but it's included in entirety on Page 179 and we issued our opinion on 8th of March, 2022. We have audited the financial statements of Equinor ASA, which comprise the financial statements of the company and the consolidated financial statements of the company as a subsidiary. It consists of the balance sheet as at 31st of December, 2021, and the income statement, statement of comprehensive income, statement of cash flows and statement of changes in equity for the year then ended and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. The consolidated financial statements of the group comprise the balance sheet as at the 31st of December, 2021. The income statement, statement of comprehensive income, statement of cash flows and statement of changes in equity for the year then ended and notes to the financial statements, including a summary of significant accounting policies. Key audit matters for the audit of 2021 are 2. First, recoverable amounts of production plants and oil and gas assets, including assets under development. The second being estimation of the asset retirement obligation. In our opinion, the financial statements comply with applicable legal requirements. It's the financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial position of the company as at 31st of December, '21, and its financial performance and cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with simplified application of international accounting standards according to Section 39 of the Norwegian Accounting Act. The consolidated financial statements give a true and fair view of the financial position of the group as at 31st of December, 2021, and its financial performance and cash flows for the year then ended in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards, IFRS, as adopted by the EU. Thank you for your attention, and thank you.

As Chair of the corporate assembly, I will now read aloud the corporate assembly statement on the Board of Directors' proposal. At this meeting on 17th of March 2022, the corporate assembly reviewed the financial statements and the director's report for 2021 for Equinor ASA and the Equinor Group and the Board's proposal for the allocation of the net income for the year in Equinor ASA. The corporate assembly supports the Board's proposal for the annual accounts and the allocation of net income. The general meeting is requested to adopt the Board's proposal for Equinor ASA and the Equinor Group as well as the directors' report and the distribution of the proposed fourth quarter 2021 dividend of $0.20 per share and an extraordinary dividend of $0.20 per share. The payment of dividend is expected to take place on the 27th of May, 2022. Please cast your vote on the item 6, if you haven't already voted as the items will be closed as soon as they are dealt with. [Voting]

DNB has now confirmed that the proposal has received the majority of the vote cast and the resolution is thus adopted. We move on to the vote on Item 7, which concerns authorization to distribute dividend based on the approved annual accounts for 2021. Keep in mind that the voting will soon closed. I remind you that questions and comments on this item have already been heard. The proposal was distributed with the notice of the AGM. It will be shown on the screen and will therefore not be read aloud. We will now close the voting. [Voting]

Yes, DNB has now confirmed that the majority of the votes casts are in favor of the proposal, and it is less adopted. We move on to Item 8, which concerns the proposed law of reduction in capital through the cancellation of own shares and the redemption of shares belonging to the Norwegian government as well as reduction of retained earnings. The proposal was distributed with the notice of the AGM and will be shown on the screen and will not be read aloud. And we will now vote on this if there are no comments or other proposals to this. There does not seem to be any comments. We move to vote on it. [Voting]

The proposal entails an amendment to the Articles of Association. Therefore, it requires a majority of 2/3 of the votes cast. DNBs now confirm that a sufficient number of votes have been cast in favor of the proposal, and it is therefore adopted. We move on to Item 9, a proposal to amend Article 1 of the Articles of Association, the objects clause. We refer -- I do remind you that the vote is closing soon, and we'll refer to the comments of the Chairman of the Board and CEO to this proposal earlier today. And the comments to this item have been heard. The proposal was distributed with the notice of the AGM. It will be shown on the screen and will not be read aloud. And we will now close the voting. [Voting]

The proposal entails an amendment to the Articles of Association, and therefore, requires a majority of 2/3 of the votes cast. DNB has now confirmed that a sufficient number of votes have been casted in favor of the proposal, and it is therefore adopted. Moving on to Item 10, the company's energy transition plan, which describes the strategy for the company's Energy Transition Plan. Please bear in mind that the voting closes soon. The plan is for the general meeting to carry out an advisory vote on the energy transition plan, and the Board proposes that the general meeting endorses the presented Energy concession plan. Reference is made to the Board of Directors and the CEO's comments on this proposal earlier today. And I'll remind you that questions and comments of this item have been heard. [indiscernible] earlier today, in the AGM, she presented a counter proposal to this proposal from the Board and as Chair of this meeting, we first vote over the Board's proposal and the proposal was distributed with the agenda shared on the screen and will not be read aloud, and we will now close the voting. [Voting]

DNB now confirm that the majority of the vote cast is in favor of the proposal, and it is then -- and the meeting will then endorse the company's energy transition plan. It is also adopted. Item 11. It is shown on the screen. And remember that the voting will close soon. If you wish to support the shareholder's proposal, the favor of the proposal. If you wish to follow the recommendation of the Board, vote against the proposal. We will now close the voting. [Voting]

We have now received confirmation on DNB that the majority has votes against the proposal, and the resolution is as not adopted. Moving on to Item 2. The proposal is presented on the screen, and please remember that the vote is soon closing. If you wish to support the shareholder proposal, vote for the proposal, but if you wish to follow the recommendation of the Board, vote against the proposal. We will now close the voting. [Voting]

Well, the DNB has now confirmed that the majority of votes have been cast against the proposal and that's not been adopted. We move to Item 13, and the proposal from shareholders is shown on the screen. Please note that we will soon close the vote. And if you wish to support the shareholder's proposal, you vote for the proposal. You vote against it, if you wish to follow the Board's recommendation. We have now closed the vote. [Voting]

DNB has now confirmed that the majority of the votes cast are against the proposal and the resolution thus not adopted. We move to Item 14, the proposal that was submitted is shown on the screen, and we'll soon close the votes. And if you want to support the shareholder's proposal, you vote for it. If you vote against it, then you follow the Board's recommendation. The vote will now be closed. [Voting]

DNB has now confirmed that the majority of the votes casts are against the proposal and the resolution is not adopted. Now we move to proposals from shareholder item 15. It is shown on the screen. Vote will soon be closed. If you want to support the shareholder's proposal, you vote for the proposal. You vote against it if you wish to follow the Board's recommendation. The vote will now be closed. [Voting]

DNB has now confirmed that the majority of the votes cast are against the proposal, and the resolution is thus not adopted. We'll now move to item 16, the proposal from shareholders shown on the screen, and we will soon close the vote. If you wish to support the shareholder's proposal, you vote for it. If you vote against it, you follow the Board's recommendation. The vote will now be closed. [Voting]

DNB has now confirmed that the majority of the votes cast are against the proposal, and it's not adopted. 17, the proposal is shown on the screen. I do remember that the vote is closing soon. If you wish to support the shareholders' proposal, vote for the proposal. If you wish to follow the recommendation of the Board, vote against the proposal. We are closing the vote. [Voting]

DNB has now confirmed that the majority has voted against the proposal and the resolution is thus not adopted. Item 18 next, it is shown on the screen. We will soon close the vote. If you wish to support the shareholder's proposal, vote for the proposal. If you wish to follow the recommendation of the Board, vote against the proposal. We are now closing the voting. [Voting]

DNB has now confirmed that the majority has voted against the proposal, and the resolution is thus not adopted. Moving on to Item 19. The proposal is shown on the screen, and we are soon closing the voting. If you wish to support the shareholder's proposal, vote in favor for the proposal. If you wish to follow the recommendation of the Board, vote against the proposal. We will now close the voting. [Voting]

DNB has now confirmed that a majority of the votes cast are against the proposal and the resolution is not adopted. The results for shareholders will, as for other votes also, be seen from the minutes, which will be posted on the website shortly after the AGM. Next item 20 is the Board of Directors' report on corporate governance. Please note that the vote will be closed when the item has been dealt with. Pursuant to Section 5-65 of the Public Limited Liability Companies Act, the AGM shall consider the Board's report on corporate governance submitted in compliance with Section 3b of the Accounting Act. The statement for 2021 is included in Chapter 3 in Equinor's annual report, which has been made available on Equinor's website prior to the AGM. The Annual General Meeting shall carry out an advisory vote regarding the corporate governance report. And the Board proposes that the general meeting endorses the report. References made to the Chair's comments on the report earlier at today's general meeting. And we now move to the vote unless there are any comments to this item. We have not received any questions or comments, and we, therefore, close the vote. [Voting]

DNB has now confirmed that the proposed resolution received the majority of the votes cast and the general meeting, thereby, endorsed the Board's report. We will now address Item 21, the Board's remuneration report for salary and other remuneration for leading executive personnel. Please bear in mind that we will close the vote after we've dealt with it. In accordance with Section 6-16B of the PLLC Act and regulations of 2020, the Board is to prepare a remuneration report for executive personnel. And this report is included in Equinor's annual report in Chapter 312, which has been made available on Equinor's website prior to the general meeting. I now give the floor to the chair, Jon Erik Reinhardsen, who will brief us on it.

Thank you. Through the remuneration report, the Board has presented information about the total executive remuneration. The 2021 remuneration report is in alignment with new legislation expanded with far more detailed reporting, particularly as far as EVPs are concerned. Equinor's remuneration policy and terms are well rooted in the values, human policy and strategy and the performance-oriented framework of the company. The remuneration system are designed to attract and retain the right people. The Board attaches great importance to offering executive compensation that is competitive, but not market-leading in the markets in which we operate. The remuneration policy and principles applied in 2021 were aligned with the guidelines for determination of remuneration to Equinor's Corporate Executive Committee, which was proposed by the Board of Directors and approved at the General Meeting in 2021. Pursuant to Section 6-16A of the PLLC Act, these guidelines or policy will be valid for 4 years, with less need for material changes that will require a new decision by the AGM. In 2021, Equinor has not made any such material policy changes, mainly minor technical adjustments made to comply with the new state guidelines for executive remuneration and companies with state ownership stakes published after last year's general meeting. The most important adjustments are a reduction in maximum average variable pay for the Corporate Executive Committee, and an extension of the lock-in period in the executive share-based incentive program, all adjustments to be effective from this year from an including 2022. Policy and reporting format for executive remuneration are subject to continuous improvement to enhance quality and accommodate shareholders' need for information. Then a few words on the CEO's terms. General salary increase for Mr. Opedal in 2020 was 3.5%. What should be 2021 actually. Opedal's base pay was NOK 10.1 million. The CEO has a variable performance-based pay, with the potential of a maximum of 50% of total base salary and a long-term incentive scheme with a share purchase of up to 30% of fixed pay. On the basis of the CEO's performance and set guidelines for executive remuneration, the Board of Directors has decided and granted him a variable pay for the performance year 2021 of NOK 4.9 million. In its assessment of the CEO's performance for 2021, the Board has highlighted that the deliveries in key areas have been above, at and below target. The year has also been impacted by the pandemic, but the markets have shown strong recovery. The ability to capture volatile prices have been one area of focus in the Board's evaluation of the CEO. Within safety, the total serious incident frequency has improved compared to 2020 and reached the 2021 target set. This is the lowest level in SIF the total serious incident frequency in the company's history. The total recordable incident frequency and number of oil and gas leakages had nevertheless a negative trend in 2021. This underlines the need for a continued strong focus on safety to improve the safety performance. The carbon intensity for the upstream portfolio improved once again compared to the previous year and ended above the target set for 2021. CapEx was delivered in line with the updated guidance provided to the market. The production efficiency saw a positive development compared with 2020, but ended somewhat below target. The forecast for organic investments for 2021 totaled around USD 8 billion, and the results at year-end were USD 7.9 billion. In 2021, there was continued focus on capital discipline and improvements. This has resulted in a strong portfolio, which is robust against lower prices. The significant transformation of the organization and the implementation of the adjustments to the strategic ambitions to better align with the company's objectives in the energy transitions were visible throughout the year. The internal general employee satisfaction saw a negative trend, indicating the importance of increasing internal focus to align the organization with a change agenda as well as identifying improvement areas. Relative total shareholder return ended in the first quartile, and was even above the target of being better than average in the peer group. The target for the relative return on average capital employed was to be in the first quartile of the benchmark group. And this achievement was also above target for 2021. As I said, the reporting this year was expanded to comprise also the Corporate Executive Committee more and with a far higher level of detail than earlier. And here, I will highlight that the Board, through its Compensation and Executive Development Committee was consulted with the CEO's assessment of salary adjustments and similarly for the CEOs. And here, our executive remuneration systems are designed to attract and retain people who are strongly motivated to deliver on the company's business strategy and able to adapt to a constantly changing business environment. Our company and industry were hit hard by the pandemic and strongly reduced prices in 2020. In 2021, we experienced that this was turned around to very strong results. This is reflected in the remuneration. For 2020 and 2021 combined, this shows that the adjustment instruments in our remuneration framework work. The threshold ensures that bonuses are reduced or not paid out when the company's financial situations are warrants and the modifier and shows that any bonus payments are clearly related to Equinor's relative performance compared with 11 other peers. The assessment of the Board is that the company's remuneration systems and practices are transparent and aligned with applicable guidelines and good business practice. Thank you for your attention.

Thank you, Jon Erik. And according to Section 5-64 of the PLLC Act with references to 6-16 to an advisory vote shall be held for the Board's remuneration report for salary to leading personnel. The Board recommends that the general meeting endorses the remuneration report. We have received a document from the state represented by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries. They ask for an addendum to the minutes on Item 21. I would like to record this addendum before we open the floor for other. And the addendum suggested by the ministry has the following wording. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries refers to the state's guidelines for the remuneration with state ownership stipulated on the MTIF wants to emphasize the state's expectations in the executive remuneration area, including paying due regard to the principle of moderation. The state finds it important that the remuneration of senior executives is competitive, enabling the company to succeed in recruiting and retaining good executives. At the same time, remunerations are not being market-leading compared with the peers and shall be set with due regard to the principle of moderation. This, amongst other things, means that it should not be higher than necessary to attract and retain the desired expertise. It's neither in the interest of the company or owners. If the company pays more remuneration, including bonus, than necessary, when evaluating moderation, the ratio between the remuneration and other employees in the company may be relevant. The state finds it important that this ratio does not increase without a good justification. The increased differences in the remuneration between executive personnel and other employees may be ill-judged because it may be harmful to the company's reputation by contributing to unreasonable disparities in the company as society at large. It finds it important that the Board pays regard to moderation in determining total remuneration the status and owner emphasizes transparency associated with the executive remuneration, therefore, transparency with regard to formulation, level and development of remuneration, including programs are unambiguous and also to enable owners and stakeholders to evaluate it. The state, as an owner, will continue the dialogue with Equinor about how the Board's executive remuneration policy can be better aligned with the state's expectations and the executive remuneration area and expects the Board to present an updated policy for the 2023 Annual General Meeting. This is then an addendum by the ministry, which represents the Norwegian State's willingness entirety be included in the minutes. We now move to put it to the vote unless there are any other comments or questions on this item. That does not seem to be the case, and we will hereby close the vote. [Voting]

DNB has now confirmed that a majority of the votes cast support are in favor of the proposal and the Annual General Meeting has endorsed the Board's report on remuneration. Item 22, approval of remuneration for the company's external auditor for 2021. And you remember that vote is disclosed once the item has been heard. The general meeting is requested to approve the auditing fees for audits in 2021 for Equinor ASA to the sum of NOK 55,981,079. And we are ready for the voting unless there are any comments to this item?

Yes. This is just an observation that we've done. Auditing is a very important topic also for us being able to check the company's activities and to understand the risks the company has to -- the operation entails. We have seen and we know that the climate risk is also a final -- financial risk and clearly a material risk for a company such as Equinor. We have noticed that EU and EY and others are better to acknowledging this, but I'm going to be very brief. We also see that there's a difference in how EY, in the Netherlands, for instance, how they acknowledges the climate risk as a material risk in the audit and make it visible. We also see this in relation to Shell. So there's a big difference. We cannot see how the fact that Equinor operates with a significantly higher oil price with comparable peer companies in the long-term run, how that can be [indiscernible] as a material risk. So our wish is that this practice is harmonized and that it is made visible in next year's reports. Thank you.

Thank you for the comment. I see no other comments, so we will vote on this item. [Voting]

DNB has now confirmed that the majority of the voted are in favor of the resolution and the resolution is thus adopted. We then move on to Item 23, which is the election of members to the Corporate Assembly. This year, the period of service will expire for all shareholder-elected members of the Corporate Assembly. Our share of the corporate assembly, I will now give an account of the nominations of the Nomination Committee. The Nomination Committee has emphasized several criteria for the composition of the corporate assembly, including diversity and expertise and background, a balanced gender representation and the need for renewal, combined with the need for continuity. The Nomination Committee contacted the biggest shareholders of Equinor, asking for suggestions for candidates. We've also had an electronic mailbox accepting suggestions on the Equinor homepage. The nominations on the Nomination Committee will now be shared on the screen and will not be read aloud, except from the new candidates CVs will be shared on the screen as well. The Nomination Committee nominates 3 new candidates for members and 3 new candidates as deputy members to the Corporate Assembly. And also that one existing deputy member is proposed as a new member. The other members of the corporate assembly are nominated for reelection. In addition, existing members, Jarle Roth, is nominated as Chair of the Corporate Assembly; and Nils Bastiansen is nominated for reelection as Deputy Chair in election to be done by the corporate assembly itself. The candidate nominated as new members of the corporate assembly are; Martin Wien Fjell, former Deputy number Merete Hverven; Helge Aasen and Liv B. Ulriksen. In addition, the following candidates are nominated as deputy members of the Corporate Assembly; Per Axel Koch, Catrine Kristiseter Marti and Nils Morten Huseby. For further information, about the candidates references made to the Nomination Committee's recommendations made available on the Equinor homepage together with other AGM documents. All of the proposed candidates are independent from the Board and the management of Equinor. We propose that the named candidates are elected as members or deputy members of the corporate assembly effective as of 12 May, 2022, and until the Annual General Meeting in 2024. Then I ask, are there any comments to the Nomination Committee's proposal? We have seen no comments to this. So we will close the vote now. [Voting]

Let's see. DNB has now confirmed that the majority of the votes cast are in favor of the Nomination Committee's proposal and the candidates are selected. Item 24 is the stipulation of remuneration to members of the corporate assembly. And please note that the vote will be closed when the item has been dealt with. The proposal has been distributed with a notice of the meeting and is being shown on the screen, so it will not be read out. As Chair of the Nomination Committee, I can inform you that the proposed increase in remuneration is in line with the general salary increase in society. Anyone wants to comment on the recommendation? That does not seem to be the case, and we now close the vote. [Voting]

Thank you. DNB has now confirmed that the resolution has received the majority of the votes cast is now adopted. Next is the item 25, the election of members to the Nomination Committee. The term of office expires this year for all members of the Nomination Committee. As Chair of the committee, I will account for the recommendation. According to the Articles of Association of the company, the Nomination Committee should complete 4 members who shall be shareholders or represent shareholders and be independent of the Board and management. The Chair and one other members should be from the shareholder-elected members of the corporate assembly. The Nomination Committee has attached importance to several criteria in its composition of the committee, including shareholder representation, diversity of expertise and background, a gender balance and consideration for bringing in new blood compared with the need for continuity. As mentioned, the Nomination Committee has contacted the major shareholders in Equinor, asking for nominees for positions, including nominees for the Nomination Committee. And electronic letter box for proposals was also set up on Equinor's website. And the Nomination Committee's proposal is now shown on the screen. The Nomination Committee recommends that Jarle Roth to be elected Chair, and Merete Hverven and Jan Tore Føsund as new members of the Nomination Committee, and that member Berit L. Henriksen be reelected. See the information for new members, Merete Hverven, Jan Tore Føsund are shown on the screen. The election is proposed to take effect from 12 of May, 2022, and until the Annual General Meeting of 2024. Any comments to this recommendation? That does not seem to be the case, and we now close the vote. [Voting]

Thank you very much. DNB has confirmed that a majority of the votes cast are in favor of the proposal of the Nomination Committee and the candidates are thus selected. We move on to Item 26, determination of remuneration for the nomination committee. It's being shown on the screen. It's been distributed from before, and it will not be read aloud. I can inform you that the Nomination Committee has proposed changes to the remuneration of the Nomination Committee members. This proposed increase is on par with the general wage development in society. And I ask you, are there any comments to the proposal? I can't see that there are. So we close the vote. [Voting]

DNB has now confirmed that the majority of the votes casts are in favor of the proposal and the proposal is adopted. We move on to Item 27. Since 2004, the company has offered a share savings plan for employees in the group, the purpose of this plan is to augment good business culture and encourage loyalty. 3 employees becoming part owners of the company. The long-term incentive plan was implemented in 2007, with the purpose of strengthening the alignment of top management and the shareholders' long-term interest and sustainability of the company and to retain key executives. At the Annual General Meeting in 2021, it was decided to authorize the Board of Directors to acquire shares in the market. This authorization expires on the date of the Annual General Meeting today, but not later than June 2022. It is proposed of the Annual General Meeting gives the Board of Directors new authorization to acquire shares in the market to continue the complete share-based incentive plans. It's proposed that the authorization granted the end of May 2021 continues to apply until the new authorization has been registered in the register of business enterprises. The proposal was distributed with the notice of the AGM, will appear on the screen and will not be read aloud. And if are there any comments on the proposals from the shareholders? If not, we will move on to vote on this. We have not received any comments or questions. And the voting will, therefore, close now. [Voting]

DNB has confirmed that the proposal has received a majority of the votes cast, and it is, therefore, adopted. We move on to Item 28, which concerns authorization to acquire Equinor ASA shares in the market for subsequent annulment. Please bear in mind that the voting will close once the item has been heard. The Board of Directors propose that the AGM grant the Board of Directors and authorization to repurchase up to 75 million owned shares in the market, approximately 2.3% of the company's share capital in accordance with the Norwegian Public Limited Liability Companies Act Section 9-4. The reason this is normal in such big companies, and this will benefit the shareholders because the remaining shares will have represents an increased ownership interest in the company. For further details about the background for the proposal, please refer to the notice of the meeting. The proposed resolution is also to be found there. It will be shared on the screen and will not be read aloud. We will vote on it unless they are any comments or questions to this item? Don't seem to be any, so we will now vote on this. [Voting]

Thank you. DNB has confirmed that the majority of the votes cast for the proposal and the resolution has been adopted. We now move to Item 29. On 25th of May, 2001, the AGM of Equinor adopted the marketing instruction for Equinor ASA, what we call the marketing instruction, which requires Equinor to market oil and gas produced from the state's direct financial interest in the petroleum sector, the SDFI interests together with its own oil and gas. The overall objective of the marketing arrangement is to maximize the total value of Equinor and the state's petroleum and to ensure a fair distribution of the total value generated. To comply with this objective and potential need for adjusting the applicable pricing and allocation principles for certain forms of natural gas trading under the marketing instruction in particular, by reducing the scope for sharing certain physical and financial trades where the state has been identified. The Board of Directors support the proposal and recommend that the Annual General Meeting adopts as a decision that necessary adjustments to the marketing instructions can be made. Potential adjustments will be made by the state, represented by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries The Board of Directors will subsequently follow up on the adjustments made by the Ministry. The proposed resolution is distributed with the notice shown on the screen and will not be read aloud. And we move to the vote, unless there're any comments to this item. That doesn't seem to be the case. And we, therefore, put it to the vote. [Voting]

Thank you. DNB has now confirmed that the majority of votes cast support the proposal and the resolution have been adopted. At this point, we've been through all the items on the agenda. And shortly, the minutes of the general meeting will be published on the company's website. Many people are actually short of time here, but I would like to thank you. I will now exit the corporate assembly where have been member of 8 years and being chair of 6 years and also being Chair of the Nomination Committee, and this has been a very interesting period and exciting developments, and it's been very interesting to follow the company's developments. So thank you to all shareholders, to owners and the Board and the Equinor organizations for your excellent cooperation. I will be following you closely in the next few years and wish you the best of luck.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank you, Tone, for the past 8 years, where you have contributed to Equinor. You have already said how long it was. So I will not repeat it, but I will commend you for your professionality and your comes during chairing these AGMs because some of them, we have needed that. So a warm thank you. And you have also moderated and guided us through the first hybrid Annual General Meeting. Thank you again, and thank you for your dedication to the past 8 years.

I know that many people have flights to catch. So I would like to catch you -- thank you for your engagement. There have been many interesting proposals, and thank you, all shareholders, for your participation. The meeting is adjourned. [Statements in English on this transcript were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]