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At least three large oil and gas companies have walked away from an initiative seeking to put the industry on a credible path toward net zero emissions.
Shell Plc, Aker BP ASA and Enbridge Inc. have all left the expert advisory group of the Science Based Targets initiative, the leading global standard setter for corporate climate targets. The retreat, reported earlier on Tuesday by the Financial Times, started late last year after the companies were told that a net zero emissions strategy accredited by SBTi would require them to stop developing new oil and gas fields.
SBTi said in a statement that work to develop the oil and gas standard was temporarily paused in order to focus on an update to its broader corporate net zero standard.
A spokesperson for Shell said in an email to Bloomberg News that the company withdrew from SBTi’s advisory group in October after finding the latest draft standard didn’t reflect the industry’s view “in any substantive way.”
An Aker spokesperson said the company exited because it found its “ability to influence the outcomes” was “limited.” The decision doesn’t reflect a lack of commitment by the company to climate action, the spokesperson said.
A spokesperson for Enbridge said the company left the group because its feedback “was not reflected in the draft guidance.” A durable path to net zero “must include global energy security considerations and embrace flexibility,” the spokesperson said.
The development marks the latest blow to net zero programs, which have seen a mass exodus of banks, asset managers and now energy companies. The moves, which coincide with intensified attacks on climate strategies by the administration of US President Donald Trump, threaten to slow efforts to limit global warming to the critical threshold of 1.5C.
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The spokesperson for Shell said the company recognizes the importance of having a science-based methodology to help the sector achieve climate targets, but believes any proposal should reflect “realistic societal and economic challenges,” and provide companies with “sufficient flexibility to transform into a net zero business by 2050.”
Separately, SBTi has delayed a deadline for financial institutions to halt financing for companies engaged in new oil and gas production. SBTi would prefer such a step to be taken immediately, but is setting 2030 as the “absolute cutoff” point, the spokesperson said.
The disruptions to SBTi’s work follow a turbulent period for the group. Last year, it faced criticism over a perceived relaxation of its standards to allow for wider use of carbon credits. It has since sought to address those concerns, including by proposing to relax its cap on the use of carbon-removal credits.
Financial support for SBTi from the Bezos Earth Fund ended last year. Bloomberg Philanthropies, the philanthropic organization of Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, is a project-specific funder of SBTi.
(Updates with Enbridge comment in sixth paragraph.)
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