Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
10/23/2015
The Chief Executive Officers of 10 of the world’s oil and gas companies representing the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative (OGCI) late last week pledged to work toward the international goal of limiting global temperature rise to 2-degrees Celsius. “Our shared ambition is for a 2°C future. It is a challenge for the whole of society. We are committed to playing our part,” the declaration says.
The declaration comes less than two months before the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) being held in Paris Nov. 30 – Dec. 11. COP21 is hoped to result in the development of a new global climate agreement, which will take the place of the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2020.
“Governments face a dual challenge. The world needs more energy as populations and economies grow. Yet this energy has to be provided in a sustainable and affordable manner. For us as energy suppliers, and for energy consumers, the challenge is that meeting growing energy demand with lower emissions is likely to be more complex, at least in the short term,” the CEOs, representing BG Group, BP, Eni, Petróleos Mexicanos, Reliance Industries Limited, Repsol, Royal Dutch Shell, Saudi Aramco, Statoil, and Total wrote in the declaration.
The companies commit to take several actions to limit global warming including: shaping and participating in public and private partnerships to progress the deployment of carbon capture and storage, contributing to increasing the share of renewables in the global energy mix, exploring new business models, and seeking opportunities to accelerate climate change solutions by working individually or collectively in collaboration with United Nations, other multilateral organizations, governments and civil society.
“Governments set the conditions within which we produce and use energy and have a critical role to play in creating clear stable policy frameworks that are consistent with a 2°C future,” the declaration says. “Over the coming years we will collectively strengthen our actions and investments to contribute to reducing the GHG intensity of the global energy mix.”
