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
Matthew Simmons is well known within the industry for his predictions on peak oil. He first shot to prominence by arguing that Saudi Arabia was running out of oil and had inflated its reserves figures. His findings were published in the controversial book, Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy.
Well now Simmons is sending shock-waves through the industry again by arguing that the price of crude oil could hit $300 a barrel if BP's pipeline corrosion crisis in Alaska turns out to be an endemic problem for the industry. Simmons believes BP’s
George W might have admitted that America is addicted to oil, but there have been two recent indicators showing the USA’s growing desire for alternative technologies. The American Wind Energy Association has announced that wind energy capacity in the US now exceeds 10,000MW for the first time. This growth has been driven partly by concerns about fuel price volatility.
Last week also saw the launch of a new group - the Hybrid Owners of America (HOA) that has been formed to fight for the interests of the 550,000 hybrid-owning Americans, whose numbers have roughly doubled every year since 1999.
As well as facing a lawsuit from its shareholders, it has emerged that BP now faces three Congressional hearings into its problems at Prudhoe Bay. Republican Don Young, has scheduled a hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, for Sept. 13.
Anyone out there who was hoping that new Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson would steer the company in a different strategic direction from his predecessor Lee “the dinosaur” Raymond, should think again. We are not going to see a sudden greening of Exxon. We are not going to see the oil and gas giant rapidly disinvest out of oil and gas and into renewables. We are going to see business-as-usual. And that is more oil and gas.
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.