Baku, Nov 14 || As the UN climate conference (COP29) is underway in Baku in Azerbaijan, oil and gas companies are exacerbating the climate crisis by failing to set strict targets to stop methane leaking into the atmosphere, while overall action to cut emissions globally remains weak at best and sometimes non-existent, a report from the financial think tank Carbon Tracker said on Thursday.
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, and while most large producers have announced plans to cut emissions from their operated upstream assets to “near zero” by 2030, the report reveals none have set targets that cover all methane emissions related to their business activities.
‘Absolute Impact 2024’ assesses and ranks pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions made by 30 of the largest oil and gas producers.
It reveals that the industry’s commitment to reducing emissions has stalled for the second year running and also warns that companies’ strategies for meeting their emissions targets are of “questionable credibility”.
It finds that no company is aligned with the Paris goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius.
European companies Eni, TotalEnergies, Repsol and bp rank highest, pledging absolute reductions in greenhouse gas emissions from the production and use of their products by 2030.
However, most companies’ targets cover emissions from their operations only, including ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, and state-owned national oil companies such as Pemex, Petrobras and Saudi Aramco.