Cookies?
Library Header Image
LSE Research Online LSE Library Services

How ambitious are oil and gas companies’ climate goals?

Dietz, Simon ORCID: 0000-0001-5002-018X, Gardiner, Dan, Jahn, Valentin and Noels, Jolien (2021) How ambitious are oil and gas companies’ climate goals? Science, 374 (6566). 405 - 408. ISSN 0036-8075

[img] Text (How ambitious are oil and gas companies’ climate goals?) - Accepted Version
Download (759kB)
[img] Text (How ambitious are oil and gas companies’ climate goals Supplementary methods and results) - Accepted Version
Download (661kB)

Identification Number: 10.1126/science.abh0687

Abstract

The oil and gas (O&G) industry faces an existential threat from the transition to a low-carbon economy. Companies are increasingly responding by setting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets, which are presented as being compatible with this transition. Many stakeholders, including investors that own O&G companies, want to understand how ambitious these targets are. In this paper, we present a forward-looking method of estimating the life-cycle carbon emissions intensity of O&G producers based on their public disclosures, and we use it to compare companies’ targets with international climate goals. The sector is not on track. Recent trends in emissions intensity have been mostly flat. Nearly half the companies we assess have yet to set emissions targets or provide sufficient clarity on them. Of those that have set targets, most are either too shallow or too narrow. Two companies have set targets that would bring their GHG intensity below international climate goals by mid-century.

Item Type: Article
Official URL: https://www.science.org/journal/science
Additional Information: © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science
Divisions: Geography & Environment
Grantham Research Institute
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Date Deposited: 01 Nov 2021 11:09
Last Modified: 28 Mar 2024 03:30
URI: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/112536

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

View more statistics