CEOs of some of the world’s biggest energy companies tried to defend themselves on Monday against criticism that they have posted record profits while abandoning climate goals, saying it is not possible to please everyone, broadcast television CNBCquoted by News.ro.
Exxon MobilPhoto: Richard Drew / Associated Press / Profimedia Images
Speaking at the ADIPEC oil and gas conference that opened Monday in Abu Dhabi, executives representing major energy companies from the US, Europe and Asia tried to set a positive tone on the current state of the fossil fuel industry.
The event comes shortly after climate change protesters took to the streets in hundreds of cities across the globe to demand world leaders phase out the burning of fossil fuels, the main driver of the climate crisis.
Big Oil has been accused of reneging on climate change pledges in recent months after record annual profits, which rights group Amnesty International described as “manifestly unjustifiable” and “an unmitigated disaster”.
Petronas boss says oil industry constrained by ‘rationality’
“We need to step up and prepare for the decarbonized systems of the future,” Tengku Muhammad Taufik, chairman and CEO of Malaysia’s state energy company Petronas, told a panel moderated by CNBC on Monday.
“So the debate has always been here, I remember an old saying: ‘If you want to make everyone happy, sell ice cream.’ We are not in the ice cream business and, I remember, there are people who are lactose intolerant,” said Taufik.
“The signal here is that we have to make some difficult decisions and we have to be limited by facts, rationality, practical steps, but we will get there,” he added.
As expected, an important UN report, published last month, confirmed that currently the world is not on track to achieve the long-term goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, a landmark agreement that aims to continue efforts to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
The world has warmed by about 1.1 degrees Celsius after more than a century of burning fossil fuels, as well as uneven and unsustainable use of energy and land. It is this increase in temperature that is fueling a series of extreme weather events around the world, according to experts.
Some oil chiefs see ‘exciting times ahead’
Vicki Hollub, CEO of US oil and gas producer Occidental Petroleum, said these were “really exciting times” for the oil and gas industry and suggested a major challenge for fossil fuel companies was to work to regain the trust of society.
“I don’t see where we are today as something that will end our industry, although there are some out there who want it gone. As we did in the past, we will find ways to innovate from this situation we are in”, said Hollub during the same discussion.
“In mitigating climate change, there is also the opportunity to continue producing oil for our energy security. So we are trying to work with this strategy and I think it will work well. The biggest challenge, which is harder to tackle than even the innovation around the technology, is just getting people to trust our industry again and understand what the data is really saying,” she added.
“Big Oil” wants to participate in the energy transition at its own pace
“It’s the worst of the worst and it’s the best of times,” said Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of French oil giant TotalEnergies, saying the oil and gas industry has all the tools to be “a major participant” in the energy transition.
“After three or four years, I understood that maybe I was naive, we will not please the activists. We will never do enough to please those who are against oil and gas, but my mission is not to please them. Our mission is to provide society with the energy we need today and tomorrow, and for that I feel comfortable,” said Pouyanne.
Speaking in January, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the fossil fuel giants for ignoring their own climate data and accused the oil and gas industry of trying to expand production despite knowing “fully” that their model business is incompatible with human survival.
Scientists have repeatedly warned that time is running out fast to avoid the worst of the climate crisis.
