2023-09-07 09:51:38
The surprise effect is measured. A new Carbon Tracker report published on Thursday smacks of the world’s major oil and gas companies. According to their analysis, the latter are far from consenting to the efforts necessary to limit the global warming and have sometimes rolled back their commitments.
“Progress by oil and gas companies to strengthen their commitments to emissions are at a standstill, most remaining in the same range as last year, “said the Carbon Tracker think tank, in a press release. The 36-page annual report, Absolute impact 2023, intended in particular for investors, takes stock of the ambitions climatic of the 25 largest oil and gas companies, including state companies. A sector that will be closely scrutinized during the COP28 in Dubai at the end of the year.
BP and Shell reneged on their commitments
The United Nations Climate Conference, where a fierce battle over the end of fossil fuels is looming, is supposed to put the world back on the trajectory of the Paris agreement: to limit global warming to well below 2°C and if possible at 1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial era.
However, the report finds that many corporate climate plans rely on methods that have not been proven on a large scale, such as carbon capture and storage, as well as carbon offsetting. He also notes that “some companies are backtracking on their commitments”, such as BP, which has lowered its 2030 target of reducing its hydrocarbon production from 40% to 25%. And Shellwhich announced that its oil production would ultimately remain stable until 2030.
Europe’s most ambitious companies
“Our analysis shows that the world’s largest oil and gas companies continue to put investors at risk by not planning (hydrocarbon) production cuts in line with the Paris target of 1.5 degrees,” he said. commented Mike Coffin, co-author of the report. Of the 25 companies, “only” Italian company Eni has targets “potentially” aligned with the Paris target, according to the think tank. TotalEnergies is ranked second.
But if Eni sits at the top of the rankings for the 4th consecutive year, the credibility of its objectives may be questioned “given that they depend on the sale of assets, as well as unproven technologies for capturing and storing carbon and carbon offsets,” emphasizes Carbon Tracker. “Large European companies topped the rankings, with consistently more ambitious targets than their North American rivals, while the weakest commitments were made by ExxonMobil and five mostly state-owned oil companies: Aramco, Brazil’s Petrobras and the Chinese Sinopec, PetroChina and CNOOC”, summarizes Carbon Tracker in its presentation.
Aramco in last place
Behind Eni comes TotalEnergies, which took the place of Repsol, now ranked 3rd, ahead of BP and Shell. Considered “more progressive” than their competitors, TotalEnergies, Repsol and BP all have stated goals of “carbon neutrality” in 2050 and interim goals by 2030 “but their targets exclude emissions from certain key activities,” notes Carbon Tracker.
Some 16 companies, including ExxonMobil and Conoco, have objectives covering only their operational emissions, i.e. not covering the emissions generated by the combustion of the oil and gas that their customers buy, i.e. around 90% of their real balance sheet carbon. In last place, the Saudi Aramco, “is the only company to limit its emission reduction targets to assets that it wholly owns and operates”, underlines Carbon Tracker, not to mention that it only sets a reduction target by relative to a future growth trajectory, which de facto reduces its efforts.
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