GLOBAL INDUSTRY
The science says we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground to meet climate goals. We’re pushing back against industry spin saying otherwise.
OVERVIEW OF WORK
The oil and gas industry is on a public relations campaign to convince investors, financial regulators, and the public at large that they deserve continued support as “part of the solution” to the energy transition. Oil Change is working to challenge these narratives and provide analysis to the financial sector, movement allies, and other decision makers to support a shift away from fossil fuel finance. Further, we are working to reform international energy scenarios that currently guide investment decisions towards failure in meeting the Paris Agreement climate goals and, concurrently, are used by the oil and gas industry to justify dangerous expansion plans.
Following years of campaigning and pressure by Oil Change and others, in 2021, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released its first ever fully fledged energy scenario aligned with limiting global warming to 1.5ºC. Critically, the IEA concluded that: “There is no need for investment in new fossil fuel supply in our net zero pathway,” and, therefore, “there are no new oil and gas fields approved for development in our pathway.” We are using the IEA’s conclusion that 1.5ºC alignment means no new oil and gas fields to hold governments, companies, banks, and investors accountable to backing up ‘net zero’ commitments with an end to new oil and gas finance.
LATEST PROGRAM POSTS
How about some good news for a change? The end of the dominance of the oil age could be sooner than you think.
This morning, Oil Change International Executive Director Steve Kretzmann joined Representative John Sarbanes (MD-3) and a coalition of environmental groups to endorse the Government by the People Act (H.R. 20), a legislative proposal to enact a system of public funding for elections that would take back influence in politics from big money donors and put it in the hands of everyday Americans.
A new report by Oil Change International and the Sierra Club, Polluting Our Democracy and Our Environment: Dirty Fuels Money in Politics, demonstrates the enormous amount of campaign finance contributions pouring into Congress by the fossil fuel industry, a problem
Fossil fuel companies operating in the U.S. and Canada made $271 billion dollars in profit in 2012, while continuing to receive billions in subsidies.
The 40 Senators voting against Gina McCarthy's nomination for EPA Administrator would have voted against anyone who would even consider measures that could affect the fossil fuel industry...thanks to $25 million in dirt energy money.
LATEST PROGRAM RESEARCH
The IEA has a crucial opportunity in 2021 to guide the world towards 1.5°C-aligned energy investment. We outline crucial steps the IEA must take to get on track.
The COVID-19 crisis poses a threat to people's health, their jobs and their lives, and like all crises, exacerbates already existing inequalities. Trillions in public finance will be needed to get through the current pandemic. This briefing outlines why continuing to rely on fossil fuels, in particular oil and gas, is not compatible with long-term recovery. It does not make sense to use the COVID-19 stimulus packages to try to revive a sunsetting industry which will not deliver on economic recovery, only to shut it down a few years later to meet climate goals.
This briefing provides a technical analysis of how the International Energy Agency's (IEA) 2019 World Energy Outlook (WEO) continues to steer governments and investors off track in tackling the climate crisis.