Investigation exposes Exxon and other oil companies’ true colours on climate change

Sep 20, 2022 News

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Kaieteur News – American oil giant, ExxonMobil, and other big oil companies have found themselves in the spotlight for misleading the public about their commitment to climate change.

On Friday September 16, Alex Lawson, an Energy Correspondent for The Guardian reported that campaigners are urging Governments to intervene after oil companies were accused of misleading the public about their commitment to reducing carbon emissions.

It was stated that last week the US House Committee, on oversight and reform released documents showing that oil industry executives privately downplayed their public messages on efforts to tackle the climate crisis. Documents were released on Exxon, Britain’s Shell Plc and BP, and also Chevron.

The Guardian reported that in separate documents, the oil companies Exxon and Chevron appeared to ask the industry led Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) to ‘remove language that potentially commits members to enhanced climate-related governance, strategy, risk management, and performance metrics and targets.’

It was stated that Exxon as well as Chevron also asked OGCI to avoid any ‘explicit commitment for OGCI companies to align their advocacy with their climate related positions’ – including advocacy for the 2015 Paris agreement.

The Guardian also reported that the memo claimed that internal BP documents highlighted how carbon capture and storage (CCS) – a nascent technology that involves inserting CO2 emissions into underground rock formations – could ‘enable the full use of fossil fuels across the energy transition and beyond.’

It was stated too that congressional investigators also unearthed an internal Shell email discussing carbon capture, utilisation, and storage (CCUS) in which an executive said: “We want to be careful to not talk about CCUS as prolonging the life of oil, gas or fossil fuels writ large.”

The Committee said internal Shell messaging guidance – developed to ‘insulate Shell’ from lawsuits about ‘green washing’ and ‘misleading investors’ on the climate crisis – calls on employees to emphasise that net zero emissions is ‘a collective ambition for the world’ rather than a “Shell goal or target”.

In fact it was stated that the guidance tells employees: ‘Please do not give the impression that Shell is willing to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to levels that do not make business sense.’

The Guardian also reported that the US House Committee said that, after Shell posted on Twitter asking others what they would do to reduce emissions, a Communications Executive wrote privately that he agreed this could be seen as “gas lighting” the public. That spokesperson wrote, “We are, after all, in a tweet like this implying others need to sacrifice without focusing on ourselves.”

It was reported too that Carolyn Maloney, the Chair of the House Committee on oversight and reform, said: “As we face more deadly, extreme weather around the globe, fossil fuel companies are reaping record profits and ramping up their misleading PR tactics to distract from their central role in fuelling the climate crisis.”

Maloney added, “My Committee’s investigation leaves no doubt that, in the words of one company official, big oil is ‘gas lighting’ the public. These companies claim they are part of the solution to climate change, but internal documents reveal that they are continuing with business as usual. I call on the big fossil fuel companies to stop their deception and cut their emissions now – before it is too late.”

Jamie Peters, a campaigner at Friends of the Earth, said: “Big oil firms like Shell, Exxon and Chevron can try to gloss over their murky PR image as much as they like, as we’ve seen in the millions of dollars pumped into disingenuous green wash campaigns by the industry. But though unsurprising, this bombshell disclosure confirms what remains utterly transparent about big oil. That it has every intention to keep on extracting in pursuit of profit, rather than transforming how it operates for the sake of our communities and our planet.”

Peters also said, “Millions are already experiencing dangerous climate breakdown in extreme heat waves and devastating floods, like those in Pakistan, as the world’s biggest polluters continue to shirk their responsibilities. They’ll continue to act only in the interests of their shareholders unless Governments intervene.”

GREEN WASHING

On September 9, Kaieteur News reported that a new report by a London-based energy and climate finance think-tank, ‘Influence Map’ revealed that five major oil companies including ExxonMobil have been spending tens of millions publicising and portraying themselves as being climate-friendly, but in reality only a small chunk of their investments goes into low-carbon development.

The report cited, Exxon, BP, Shell Plc, Chevron and Total Energies. It said the companies spend US$750 million a year polishing their climate credentials. The Guardian had reported that a comprehensive study of public communications from the five oil and gas firms found that 60 percent of the publicity made at least one claim highlighting the companies’ positive climate actions – but on average, the five companies devoted only 12 percent of capital expenditure to low-carbon activities – and this included some gas projects.

 

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