New Data: Oil & Gas ‘Decarbonization Charter’ masks massive fossil fuel expansion in 2024

Baku, AZ – New data analysis exposes how big oil and gas companies’ “Decarbonization Charter,” launched at COP28, is a dangerous distraction from the urgent need to rapidly phase out fossil fuels. The analysis, released by Oil Change International and Zero Carbon Analytics, finds that Charter members have approved massive oil and gas expansion plans since signing on.

Download link: https://www.oilchange.org/publications/empty-promises-oil-gas-decarbonization-charter

Key Findings:

• Charter member companies approved 68 new oil and gas fields and field expansions from January through September 2024 – amounting to 14 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) of new oil and gas reserves approved for extraction and a commitment of almost USD 250 billion in new oil and gas expenditure.
• Burning all the oil and gas in these newly approved fields would release nearly 5 billion metric tonnes of carbon-dioxide (CO2) pollution – roughly equal to the United States’ total carbon emissions for an entire year.
• Ten companies are responsible for over 90 percent of new reserves approved by Charter members in 2024, led by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), Saudi Aramco, Petrobras, TotalEnergies, and Shell.
• Despite accounting for less than 40 percent of global oil and gas production, the Charter’s signatory companies together account for 65 percent of all new oil and gas reserves approved globally in 2024.
• Charter companies are forecast to cumulatively produce 17 percent more oil and gas by 2030 than in 2023. In contrast, the International Energy Agency’s 1.5ºC-aligned energy pathway shows global oil and gas production must decline by close to 20 percent by 2030.

When the Charter was launched, over 320 civil society organizations warned that the world needed a “transformative outcome” from global leaders, not voluntary pledges from fossil fuel companies. In particular, the Charter fails to address the vast majority of member companies’ climate impact, which occurs from the burning of the oil and gas they produce. 

The scientific evidence is clear that there is no room for new oil, gas, or coal extraction beyond existing fields and mines, and that oil and gas production must fall immediately and swiftly, to hold global temperature rise to the agreed 1.5 degrees Celsius limit. Far from heeding this science, the new analysis shows that, in 2024, Charter member companies are disproportionately responsible for approving new oil and gas extraction globally. 

The first step to transition away from fossil fuels is to stop approving new production. One year in, the Charter’s voluntary pledges have done nothing to address this imperative, instead acting as a distraction while companies double down on expansion. In its own update report, released this week at COP29, the Oil & Gas Decarbonization Charter itself makes no reference to reducing oil and gas production, instead maintaining a narrow focus on pledges to address only a small subset of industry emissions.

David Tong, Global Industry Campaign Manager at Oil Change International, said: “Since signing the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter, these companies have lit the fuse on a 5-billion-tonne carbon bomb. Their approval of 68 new oil and gas projects this year alone is a commitment to nearly $250 billion in fossil fuel expansion and locks in climate pollution equivalent to an entire year of U.S. carbon emissions. This is a pledge in words only; these corporations are fueling the climate crisis.”

Murray Worthy, Senior Researcher at Zero Carbon Analytics, said: “The science is clear: to meet global climate goals, companies must stop opening new oil and gas fields. Yet data shows that, despite supporting the Paris Agreement, these companies are investing billions in new fossil fuel supplies. Governments must act now to halt fossil fuel expansion and uphold their commitment to a clean energy transition.”

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