Lat 28e Conference of States Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28), which will be held from November 30 to December 12 [en anglais Conference of the Parties, COP], is hosted by an oil country. It will also be chaired by Sultan Ahmed Al-Jaber, who is also the director of an oil company, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc).
There is no doubt that in Dubai the oil and gas industry will be in the spotlight and its commitments in favor of the climate are particularly awaited. Despite the rise of renewables, oil and gas today provide 53% of global energy consumption while, just like coal (26%), it is necessary to reduce their climate impact to zero over the next twenty years. next five years.
Greenwashing or real commitment
More and more companies in the sector are making commitments to contain global warming. The major Western majors (Exxon, Chevron, TotalEnergies, BP, Shell and Eni), which only represent 15% of global oil and gas production, are at the forefront of this movement. They subscribe to the international objective of 1.5°C and have committed to being “ZEN” (zero net emissions) in 2050.
However, each of these companies retains its own definition of carbon neutrality. Each has its own method of counting its greenhouse gas emissions. Each chooses its own progress indicators. So much so that it is very difficult, whether you are a political decision-maker, responsible investor, community activist, researcher, journalist or simple concerned consumer, to establish a ranking between the most and least effective, to distinguish between greenwashing and real commitment.
For the American majors, the scope of emissions to be neutralized stops at production activities, from extraction to refining. It would then be possible to be ZEN by stopping methane leaks at the outlet of wells and by electrifying industrial operations. However, in a liter of oil or a cubic meter of gas, most of the emissions obviously come from combustion at the end-use level: gasoline for cars, heating of homes, industrial installations, etc.
European companies have a more coherent approach, since they include in their ZEN objective emissions linked to the final consumption of their products, thus recognizing their responsibility towards what they put on the market. However, the devil is in the details of oil companies’ carbon accounting, and several processes can be used to partially evade its responsibilities.
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