Despite their promises, the oil and gas giants are falling short of the climate emergency. In a set of analyzes published Thursday, April 13, the NGO Reclaim Finance scrutinized the climate plans of the nine main European and American companies (TotalEnergies, Shell, BP, Equinor, ENI, Repsol, ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips). The result is clear: none has a strategy aligned with the Paris Agreement objective of limiting global warming to 1.5°C, which implies achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. A target on which they all got involved.
“Instead of having taken the path of transition, these companies are pursuing the same strategy based on fossil fuels, advances Lucie Pinson, the executive director of Reclaim Finance. Their priority remains access to ever more hydrocarbon reserves, long before the development of renewables. »
By deciphering the strategies of the energy behemoths, Reclaim Finance hopes to shed light on the decisions of the financial players – banks, insurance companies, investors – who support them, on the eve of the general meetings of these groups, scheduled for April and May. The nine targeted companies, which represent 16% of global hydrocarbon production, occupy a central place in the portfolios of these players, who consider them to be the “best students” in terms of climate transition.
Many projects in the boxes
However, none of the companies studied has committed to stopping its oil and gas expansion. On the contrary, all have new projects in the pipeline, including in risky or highly polluting activities (Arctic, deep-sea drilling, oil sands, etc.). Their combined production under development – which has been the subject of a final investment decision – and that of the fields currently being assessed amounts to nearly 35 billion barrels of oil equivalent, i.e. one third of resources from fields already in production (93 billion barrels).
Among the largest developers in the world, TotalEnergies ranks 7e place, Shell at 12e and BP at the 16e – the first being the Saudi national company Saudi Aramco.
“We continue to invest in new oil projects (…) to meet the still growing global demand”explained Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of TotalEnergies, during the presentation of its climate strategy in Marchthe group also planning to develop strongly in the liquefied natural gas sector. “Every significant investment, including in the exploration, acquisition or development of oil and gas resources, is subject to an assessment taking into account the objectives of the Paris Agreement”assures the company, which affirms that its strategy is compatible with the international treaty concluded in 2015.
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