GLOBAL POLICY
The Paris climate goals demand a rapid, just transition from fossil fuels to clean energy. We’re pushing governments to lead the way by adopting policies to end oil and gas production.
OVERVIEW OF WORK
In order to achieve climate goals, governments and other decision makers must support a just and equitable move away from fossil fuels. We are pushing for precedent-setting leadership from governments to put policies in place to manage the decline of oil and gas and ensure a just transition for fossil-fuel dependent workers and communities.
Building from a growing group of first mover governments, we are pressuring for increasing numbers of national and regional governments to end new licenses and permits for oil and gas production, and to develop plans to wind down their existing production over time.
LATEST PROGRAM POSTS
US Representative Jeb Bradley, Republican of New Hampshire, is under fire for owning nearly $1 million in oil, gas and electric company shares, whilst consistently “voting with energy interests since taking office, often stripping key environmental and consumer protections in the process”. Bradley has also taken over $45,000 in campaign contributions from energy industry PACs.
After a two-year investigation, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has announced it will not be taking any action against former Shell boss Sir Philip Watts. The ex-Shell Chairman was being investigated over the oil and gas reserves overbooking crisis that hit Shell in 2004, when Shell overstated its proven oil and gas reserves by 23 per cent or around 4.5 billion barrels. The scandal cost him his job and plunged the Shell Group into crisis.
The politics of oil is once again creeping up the political and public agenda in the US. Over the last month a dozen potential presidential candidates have toured the state of Iowa, with most pledging their support for the biofuel ethanol as an alternative to gasoline.
Car manufacturers in Europe were given a severe warning from the European Commission yesterday that they face stringent new laws if they fail to live up to their commitments to cut carbon dioxide emissions.
LATEST PROGRAM RESEARCH
This new report, “Public Enemies: Assessing MDB and G20 international finance institutions’ energy finance” looks at G20 country and MDB traceable international public finance for fossil fuels from 2020-2022 and finds they are still backing at least USD 47 billion per year in oil, gas, and coal projects.
This briefing assesses Shell’s fossil fuel extraction plans in light of Shell's appeal of a Dutch court verdict requiring the company to take responsibility for its climate pollution. Our analysis shows that Shell continues to plan for levels of oil and gas production and investment that undermine the world’s chances of curtailing climate disaster.
The countries that produce oil and gas from the North Sea (Norway, the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark) rank among the countries with the greatest economic capacity and responsibility to rapidly phase out extraction, and to finance just transitions to renewable energy solutions domestically and abroad.