EUROPEAN oil and gas giants such as BP, Shell, Equinor and Repsol are ahead of rivals elsewhere in the speed of their response to the challenge of climate change, research has found.
Law firm CMS said European majors are leading progress in the clean energy sector . They are leaving behind American counterparts Chevron, ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips and state-owned heavyweights in countries such as Mexico and China.
North Sea oil find that galvanised industry loses sparkle as oil giant Equinor loses interest
A study by CMS with Capital Economics found oil and gas majors understand the need to adapt their business models in response to concern about climate change.
But, in addition to highlighting differences in the speed of the firms’ responses, the study identified a range of factors that could hold up progress. These include regulatory changes, shareholder pressure for firms to achieve high returns on investment, uncertainty about the longevity of technologies and competition from renewable energy firms.
BP boss inists oil giant is part of solution to climate change challenge
A significant majority of the 15 majors studied are adapting their strategies to invest in a more diverse energy portfolio.
The 15 firms could invest $100 billion (£77m) on renewables and carbon capture from 2019 to 2030 on current trends. With increased commitment from majors and the right support from policymakers the total invested could increase to $209bn.
Shell plans North Sea expansion as it aims to boost green credentials with funding for forests
“Energy transition now dominates conversations at board level. Whether it is de-carbonising their own operations or investing in alternative energy, the transition will happen,” said Munir Hassan, head of CMS’ energy group.
He added: “It will take time, but time is something that is in short supply.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here