Chevron
Our analysis reveals how Chevron’s climate plans fail to align with international commitments to phase out fossil fuels and to limit global temperature rise to 1.5ºC.
Boycott Chevron for Palestinian human rights
People are calling for a boycott of Chevron because of its complicity in fueling Israel’s genocidal assault against Palestinians in Gaza. Chevron operates offshore gas fields in territory claimed by Israel, operates a pipeline that runs from Israel to Egypt off the coast of Gaza, and is a key company implicated in supplying crude oil to Israel. (Source: American Friends Service Committee)
How does Chevron stack up?
We analyzed Chevron’s climate and sustainability pledges and plans on ten criteria across ambition, integrity, and people-centered transitions, representing minimum baselines for potential alignment with the Paris Agreement. Chevron’s climate pledges and plans are “Grossly Insufficient” on all ten criteria.
Table Key
- Grossly insufficient
- Insufficient
- Partially aligned
- Close to aligned
- Fully aligned
AMBITION
INTEGRITY
PEOPLE-CENTERED TRANSITIONS
Chevron
Our analysis reveals how Chevron’s climate plans fail to align with international commitments to phase out fossil fuels and to limit global temperature rise to 1.5ºC.
Stop exploration
Grossly insufficient
Stop approving new extraction projects
Grossly insufficient
Decline oil and gas production year-on-year to 2030
Grossly insufficient
Set explicit end-date for oil and gas extraction and long-term production phaseout plan, aligned with 1.5°C
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Set absolute target(s) to reduce all its greenhouse gas emissions, including value chain emissions
Grossly insufficient
Do not rely on carbon sequestration or offsets
Grossly insufficient
Pursue methane reductions that serve climate goals, not greenwashing
Grossly insufficient
End lobbying and ads that obstruct climate solutions
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Support and fund just transitions for workers and communities where it operates
Grossly insufficient
Uphold human rights and Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Stop exploration
Stop approving new extraction projects
Decline oil and gas production year-on-year to 2030
Set explicit end-date for oil and gas extraction and long-term production phaseout plan, aligned with 1.5°C
Set absolute target(s) to reduce all its greenhouse gas emissions, including value chain emissions
Do not rely on carbon sequestration or offsets
Pursue methane reductions that serve climate goals, not greenwashing
End lobbying and ads that obstruct climate solutions
Support and fund just transitions for workers and communities where it operates
Uphold human rights and Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including to Free, Prior, and Informed Consent
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Grossly insufficient
Ambition: Drilling for More Oil and Gas
Chevron does not have a date set to stop exploration, stop approving new extraction projects, or end oil and gas production. Chevron has not set a rapidly declining fossil fuel production target, and therefore its plans are dangerously out of step with climate goals.
Despite the reality of the climate crisis, Chevron expressly aims to expand its oil and gas production by around 13 percent from 2023 to 2027. In announcing their 2023 results, Chevron’s CEO boasted that the company “produced more oil and natural gas than any year in the company’s history.”
It’s unthinkable to approve any new fossil fuel development when the majority of oil, gas, and coal in existing fields and mines must stay underground to keep warming to globally agreed limits.
Historical Responsibility
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1 st
Chevron's Rank
for most cumulative climate pollution in history among ALL investor-owned companies.
Source: Carbon Majors
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57.9 billion
Tonnes of CO2e Pollution
linked to Chevron’s fossil fuel production since the early 1900s.
Source: Carbon Majors
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$ 900 billion
Amount Chevron Would Owe
if the company were held partially accountable for the climate loss and damages caused by its pollution since 1985 alone.
Source: Climate Analytics
Chevron Chairman and CEO, Mike Wirth"In 2023, we returned more cash to shareholders and produced more oil and natural gas than any year in the company’s history.”
Integrity: Failing Climate Targets
Do Chevron’s actions add up to a credible pathway to 1.5°C?
Chevron has not set any target to reduce its total emissions.
Under Chevron’s existing plans, the company’s climate pollution could continue increasing indefinitely. Chevron’s only long-term emissions reduction pledge, which the company calls an “aspiration,” is a smokescreen: It does not cover over 90 percent of the company’s reported emissions as of 2022.
To meet its climate targets, Chevron plans to rely heavily on the ‘net’ in ‘net zero’ – investing in carbon capture and carbon offsets, which may prolong the life of fossil fuels, have a long track record of failure, and perpetuate injustice. Instead, oil and gas companies should take responsibility for reducing their oil and gas extraction and sales as rapidly as possible.
Meanwhile, there is evidence that Chevron is lobbying against climate action, greenwashing, and otherwise maneuvering to undermine the energy transition.
At a glance
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$ 21.4 billion
In Fossil-Fueled Profits
The profits Chevron reaped in 2023, largely from producing and/or selling fossil fuels.
Source: Business Insider
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$ 0.0
Amount Chevron has paid to victims in Ecuador
In 2011, Indigenous Peoples and other inhabitants of the Ecuadorian Amazon won a historic USD 9.5 billion judgment against Chevron for dumping toxic waste into their environment. Chevron has yet to pay a penny.
Source: Amazon Watch
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20
Industry associations lobbying against climate action
Chevron is a member of 20 industry associations that are “Misaligned” on climate policy as of May 2024.
Source: Influence Map
People-Centered Transitions: Inadequately Preparing
While many companies have co-opted the language of ‘just transition’ from labor and climate justice movements in recent years, Chevron rates “Grossly Insufficient” on its real-world just transition plans and on upholding human rights.
Independent analysis shows that Chevron does not have adequate policies to support and fund just transitions for workers and communities or uphold human rights and Indigenous Peoples’ rights.
An independent 2021 report documented 70 ongoing criminal and civil cases, across 31 countries, brought against Chevron in response to the company’s alleged pollution, human rights abuses, and corruption. More than 60 percent of these cases involve Indigenous Peoples.
Urge President Biden to pardon lawyer Steven Donziger!
In 2011, people in Ecuador won a historic USD 9.5 billion judgment against Chevron for having deliberately discharged billions of gallons of cancer-causing toxic waste into their environment. Yet Chevron has yet to pay a penny of this judgment, instead fighting it and the lawyer who represented the Ecuadorian communities, Steven Donziger. The lawyer was convicted of contempt of court without a jury trial for refusing to breach attorney-client confidentiality, confined to house arrest for close to three years, and without a pardon still faces risk of arrest. Can you help stand up to Chevron?