* Climate Action 100+ aims to curb greenhouse gas emissions
* Grupo Mexico, Pemex and Uniper also added to focus list
By Simon Jessop
LONDON, Nov 18 (Reuters) - One of the world's leading investor groups pushing for more corporate action on climate change said it has added Saudi Aramco (SE:2222), the world's largest oil producer, to its list of target companies.
Climate Action 100+, the 450 members of which manage more than $47 trillion in assets, seeks to engage with the companies responsible for much of the world's greenhouse gas emissions to encourage the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Specifically, it wants each company to commit to emissions cuts in line with the Paris Agreement on climate change, implement strong climate governance frameworks and improve climate-related disclosures.
The group has already achieved some success with its strategy, including at oil majors Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L and BP BP.L , which this year announced long-term strategies in response to climate change.
Climate Action 100+ has accelerated engagement with impressive results, the group's chair, Laetitia Tankwe, said after it announced the new additions to its list of targeted companies.
"These additions present a strategic opportunity to further curb emissions and enable the transition to a net-zero future by 2050," she said. "We welcome the opportunity to support signatories in these new engagements."
In a periodic review of the companies covered by the inititative, CA100+ said it had added eight others to the focus list, including copper miner Grupo Mexico GMEXICOB.MX and Colombian industrial company Grupo Argos ARG.CN .
Australian chemicals companies Incitec Pivot IPL.AX and Orica ORI.AX , Papua New Guinea-focused Oil Search OSH.AX , Indian construction company UltraTech Cement ULTC.NS , German power utility Uniper UN01.DE and Mexican state oil company PEMEX round out the new additions. companies were removed: U.S. miner Southern (NYSE:SO) Copper SCCO.N was replaced by its parent, Grupo Mexico, while Australian retailer Wesfarmers WES.AX was cut after a fundamental restructuring of the company, the investor group said, leaving 167 companies on the focus list.