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Major oil companies’ climate pledges are underwhelming: The largest US and Europe-based oil and gas producers have set emission reduction goals that fall short of what would be necessary to keep warming levels below the Paris Agreement’s threshold of 1.5 C, The Guardian reports, citing a report (pdf) by the Big Oil Reality Check from Oil Change International. On a scale from “fully aligned” to “grossly insufficient,” Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil ranked grossly insufficient in all 10 criteria used by the report’s authors. The projects planned by the eight companies could lead to more than 2.4C warming, and none have plans to curb fossil fuel or extraction projects. In fact, six of the companies have clear plans to increase polluting projects.
Not really a surprise: Low-carbon transition plans published by big oil companies have met only 19% of London-based green investment consultant IIGCC ’s criteria for effective strategies. Plans set out by 10 major oil and gas companies — including Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell and BP — were insufficient for investors to gauge transition risk accurately. Companies are also failing to disclose key info such as details on carbon capture or upstream production, making it unclear how their goals will be achieved. European companies generally offer better disclosure, more aligned targets, and greater investment in climate solutions compared to their North American counterparts, which lag in diversifying into low-carbon energy production. North American companies met just 3% of metrics assessing climate solutions.
New solar projects in China fell 32% y-o-y in March despite declining prices of PV equipment, Reuters reports, citing calculations it made using official data. This marks the lowest level for the country in 16 months and comes on the back of “grid bottlenecks pile up, market reforms increase uncertainty for [solar power generators], and the best rooftop space runs short,” the newswire writes. The lack of power grid capacity to integrate excess energy from solar stations has deterred price support from regulators and led to grid managers having to block up to 50-70% of energy from being added to the grid, Reuters added.
China’s slowdown spells more trouble for the West: Given that China’s PV manufacturing is expanding faster than the country’s ability to construct more solar stations, the solar equipment producers will be forced to continue exporting and dumping its supply to Western market, which is likely to exacerbate the political tensions between the two sides.
OTHER STORIES WORTH KNOWING ABOUT THIS MORNING-
- Climate victims seek legal action against Total: Eight victims of extreme weather disasters amplified by climate change and three NGOs are seeking legal action against the CEO and directors of TotalEnergies, citing fossil fuel activities as a contributing factor. The public prosecutor will decide within the next three months whether to dismiss the case or open it for judicial review. Total has been hit with at least eight climate cases, most of which are still ongoing. (The Guardian)
- BNP to reduce portfolio emission intensity by 18%: BNP Paribas will reduce its portfolio emissions intensity compared with 2022 by 18% for air transport, 23% for maritime transport, and 31% for commercial property. The bank has also withdrawn from conventional bond sales for oil and gas and become the biggest underwriter of green bonds in the world. It is targeting a 70% reduction in financed oil and gas emissions by 2030. (Statement)
- UK plans new nuclear power plant in Wales: The UK government is initiating discussions with international energy companies to construct a large gigawatt-scale nuclear power plant in northern Wales. This would be the third new large-scale atomic plant in the country after a decades-long hiatus. (Bloomberg)
