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
As I write, another teeming downpour pounds northwest Vermont. Over seven inches of rain fell in May, more that twice the average and a new record. A record summer for mosquitoes is predicted, even if the rain abates. A mild winter and heavy spring rain will bring the Green Mountains all sorts of bug and blights from the south. It’s global warming, I suppose we should get used to it, at least until the Atlantic thermohaline cycle shuts down. The global warming shoe has dropped, it will bounce across the global floor for decades before it come to rest.
The other
The headline says it all: "The Man Who Sold the Planet". Today’s Independent newspaper launches a major offensive at Exxon and Lee Raymond, the "Darth Vader of global warming" for their “denial that carbon emissions cause climate change”.
Reporting on yesterday's Exxon AGM, the paper says: “Lee Raymond, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, has bowed out from the oil giant with a $400m pay and retirement deal that has caused outrage among environmentalists. In his 12 years at the top of the company, Exxon has pumped an estimated six billion tons of carbon into the atmosphere and has led the
Hot on the heels of Business Week laying into the oil majors, now the Financial Times is doing it too. Although they are making “unprecedented profits” and have returned well over $120bn to shareholders, the FT says these are “uncertain times for the international oil companies”.
Once again the issue of gaining access to reserves is explored. “The first, and perhaps largest, problem they face is getting access to new resources. About three-quarters of the world’s oil and gas reserves are off limits to them because governments such as Saudi Arabia do not allow them to participate”.
Coupled with declining
Great Op-Ed by Thomas Friedman in the New York Times today, who likens General Motors to a “crack dealer looking to keep his addicts on a tight leash”, after the company announced its "fuel price protection program" that guarantees gasoline at a capped price of $1.99 a gallon, with no limit on mileage.
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.