Report • Global Industry

Big Oil Reality Check: Aligned In Failure

Published by: Oil Change International

The Big Oil Reality Check report finds that the climate pledges and plans of 8 international oil and gas companies fail to align with international agreements to phase out fossil fuels and to limit global temperature rise to 1.5ºC.

Key Findings

These oil majors fail to align with international agreements to phase out fossil fuels and to limit global temperature rise to 1.5ºC.

  • Every company is “Grossly Insufficient” or “Insufficient” on a majority of criteria.
  • Three companies (Chevron, ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil) are “Grossly Insufficient” — our lowest rating — on all criteria.

Combined, these 8 companies’ current oil and gas extraction plans are consistent with more than 2.4°C of global temperature rise, likely leading to global devastation.

  • These 8 companies alone are on track to use 30% of our remaining carbon budget to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C.

Ambition: Of the 8 analyzed companies, 6 have explicit goals to increase oil and gas production. Even those without such plans are advancing new fossil fuel projects and selling polluting assets rather than shutting them down, masking their actions as contributing to an energy transition while perpetuating climate pollution.

Integrity: None of the companies we analyzed have set comprehensive targets to ensure their total emissions decline rapidly and consistently, starting now. Every company intends to rely on carbon capture and storage (CCS), offsets, and/or other methods that delay and distract from ending fossil fuels, and prolong the health and community safety impacts of dirty energy.

People-Centered Transitions: All companies fail to meet basic criteria for just transition plans for workers and communities where they operate. All companies fail to meet basic criteria on upholding human rights.

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