News & Analysis
May 18, 2020
It seems to be the new hip trend (for oil companies at least): publicize goals for going “net-zero” by 2050, ostensibly meaning sharp reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and investments in offsets to be carbon neutral by the middle of the century. It’s a clever PR move that allows an industry with an outsized role in warming the earth to appear to be evolving. But in keeping with decades of Big Oil’s lies about the costly consequences of its business as usual, these claims have turned out to be more fiction than fact.
A new report from Transition Pathway Initiative, a global investor group that evaluates companies’ promises to transition to a low-carbon economy, found that oil giants like Shell and BP weren’t exactly transparent in their announcements. That’s because their “math” relies on cherry-picking which parts of their business to highlight in their calculations, assumes that consumers and other industries will change their habits substantially, and avoids providing specific details on how they would achieve their supposed goals. In other words, the companies found a way to claim to be taking the problem seriously without really being on track to prevent catastrophic warming.
Despite commitments from five major oil companies to reduce their carbon impact, TPI found that none is yet aligned with ‘net zero’ or 1.5°C pathways, according to a press release accompanying the report.
It’s easy for oil and gas executives to set attractive but empty goals indicating that they are working with the rest of humanity to “realistically” problem-solve on climate change. What seems to be more difficult for these companies is to acknowledge the billions of dollars they continue to make at the expense of the public by creating and perpetuating that very same crisis. If the industry really wants to help the world respond to climate change, it’s time for them to pay their fair share to help communities pave a way forward.
