102: The Role of the Oil & Gas sector in a 'Just Transition' with Vicky Sins, World Benchmarking Alliance

Shownotes: I think it is safe to say that 2023 has brought climate consciousness to more people than ever before. Extreme climate events across the world - forest fires, extreme heat, intense droughts, flooding, melting polar ice, changes in the weather pattern, rising air pollution, declining biodiversity have made it difficult for us to ignore climate realities - climate change is for real. And climate anxiety amongst people especially the young is becoming a cause for concern. What about some of the biggest contributors to the climate crisis and global warming? Who are they and how concerned are they? According to the IEA ‘The Energy sector is central to efforts to combat climate change. Energy (Fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas – are by far the largest contributor to global climate change) accounts for two-thirds of total greenhouse gas, so it is the central player in efforts to reduce emissions and mitigate climate change.’But, this sector that made obscene profits this year has not been doing much according to a recent report by the World Benchmarking Alliance. At the launch of the report two weeks back, I was staggered to hear one of the speakers mention that ‘pension funds have not set red lines on fossil fuel funding’. And that £88 billion has been invested in fossil fuel by UK pension funds and banks. It seems very careless, considering we are on the brink - so to speak. The WBA Climate and Energy Benchmark in its second iteration assesses and ranks the world’s 100 most influential oil and gas companies including on their low carbon transition and social impact. In a recent conversation with Vicky Sins Climate and Energy Benchmark Lead at the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA) we spoke about the benchmark, the significance of the insights and its impact on decarbonisation and transition to low carbon economy. Listing below some of the key findings 👇🏾👇🏾👇🏾👉🏾 0, That’s right ZERO companies have committed to halting the expansion of fossil fuel activities before 2030. With no set date for phasing out fossil fuels most companies don’t have credible transition plans (Am I SHOUTING??)👉🏾 Most companies have not set targets that cover their scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions meaning that the majority of emissions from this sector are still not covered by reduction targets👉🏾 Only a minority of the assessed companies are engaged with necessary preconditions for a ‘Just Transition’👉🏾 Despite soaring profits companies are still not investing in a low carbon transition. Only 25% of companies report the amount of capital expenditure that they have invested in low carbon technologies👉🏾 To halve the sector’s scope 1 and 2 emissions, companies need to invest $600 billion by 2030 into low-carbon solutions. This is not happening. Just 12 companies’s scope 1 and 2 emissions intensities have decreased in line with their 1.5C pathways. 👉🏾 Just 35% of companies are committed to social dialogue with workers and affected stakeholders and 46% percent disclose the share of their workforce covered by collective bargaining agreements👉🏾 Over half of companies assessed still link executive remuneration or incentives to the growth of fossil fuels, and only 18% of assessed companies have scope 3 emission targets.👉🏾 93% of companies score zero on just transition planningIf you would like to know more, head to the podcast. Link in the comments👇🏾👇🏾Episode Transcript