Last week, the government said it would keep issuing new oil and gas exploration licences, contradicting recommendations from a recent high-profile report by the International Energy Agency.

The so-called "Green Nobel Prize" recognizes the environmental justice efforts of Lavigne in her quest to prevent further polluting industry from coming to her region of Louisiana.

Indigenous activists in Northern Minnesota occupied sites of Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline, seeking to disrupt construction. The action puts national attention on an issue that President Biden has tried to ignore.

Campaigners welcomed the result but warned against complacency after claiming the bank had left a number of questions unanswered during its annual general meeting.

"We can’t recall another time that an energy company’s shareholder has been so effective and forceful in showing how a company’s failure to take on climate change has eroded shareholder value."

"This is a turning point in history," said an attorney who noted that the ruling "may also have major consequences for other big polluters."

Standard Bank has been involved in some of the largest and most controversial fossil fuel projects on the continent.

Over 50,000 people have signed a petition calling on the museum to drop the fossil fuel company as a sponsor of the “Our Future Planet” exhibition.

Institutions from eleven countries announced their divestment from fossil fuel companies and urge others to follow their example.

Companies face shareholder votes over climate policy lobbying, emissions disclosures, and aligning their plans with the Paris Agreement.