Giving Compass' Take:
- Tik Root reports on how oil companies are forgoing their renewable goals and boosting drilling, likely also increasing emissions.
- How can donors and funders support efforts to reduce emissions as oil companies deprioritize sustainability?
- Learn more about key issues facing climate justice and how you can help.
- Search our Guide to Good for nonprofits focused on climate justice in your area.
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Last week, British Petroleum announced that it was slashing more than $5 billion in planned green energy investments, just one example of oil companies forgoing their renewable goals. It was a marked departure from the early 2000s, when the oil giant branded itself as “beyond petroleum,” and even 2020, when the company targeted a 20-fold increase in its renewables portfolio.
“Today, we have fundamentally reset BP’s strategy,” said BP’s CEO, Murray Auchincloss, as part of the most recent announcement. “This is a reset BP, with an unwavering focus on growing long-term shareholder value.”
BP isn’t the only oil giant rolling back its climate commitments. Shell and Norway’s state-controlled Equinor have also made similar moves recently. But, while the news has caught headlines, experts say that the moves will have little impact on the larger renewables industry — and that, from a climate perspective, the companies’ proposed increase in fossil fuel production is much more alarming.
“I don’t see the watering down of renewables targets as particularly significant. The oil and gas sector accounts for a negligible share of clean energy investment,” wrote Rich Collett-White, an analyst at Carbon Tracker, a nonprofit think tank researching the impact of climate change on financial markets, in an email. According to the International Energy Agency, the sector accounts for only 1 percent of the overall industry.
“Clean energy investment is still increasing globally — it’s just not coming from the oil and gas sector,” said Collett-White. “The changes they’re making to production targets are more significant.”
At the same time that BP cut its renewables portfolio, it said it was going to invest $10 billion more in oil and gas. The company is now aiming to produce 2.4 million barrels per day of fossil fuels by 2030, which is a 60 percent jump from its 2020 target. That 900,000 barrel difference amounts to about 387,000 more metric tons of carbon dioxide each day — which is equivalent to around 90,000 gas-powered cars operating for a year.
Read the full article about oil companies dropping renewable goals by Tik Root at Grist.