Calling bullshit on fossil fuel industry 'targets for net zero'
Fossil fuel companies first denied climate change, then pretended it wouldn't be so bad, and now they're pretending to do something about it.
Here’s a post on fossil fuel companies’ claims that they now take #climatechange seriously.
There’s a vast gap between endlessly evolving fossil fuel corporate PR, and the depressing truth that actual practice is not close to meeting climate targets set six long years ago in the #ParisAgreement.
As our #InvestFossilFree video lays out, fossil fuel companies first denied the #ClimateEmergency, then claimed it wouldn’t be so bad, and now claim they care. Take JSE-listed @bhp Billiton. In 2019, BHP’s CEO claimed it would in 2020 set an emissions reduction target that would ‘reflect’ the #ParisAgreement. A slippery choice of words.
Let’s see @BHP’s actual targets, and yes, they fall far short of what Paris actually demands.
What would be a meaningful target for a fossil fuel company? They have to start cutting their emissions by 7–8% every year RIGHT NOW, as analysis from @UNEP shows.
‘Net zero by 2050’ – these bullshit targets from @BP, @BHP etc may sound ambitious, but in truth are empty. They simply defer responsibility and accountability to future generations, to a date by which the climate will be hopelessly damaged, leaving millions in crisis. Any asset manager that recites these targets as excuses for remaining invested in these companies is deeply cynical.
But some asset managers with vision and principles are not fooled: ‘One thing is to say that there should be zero in 2050... ‘We are concerned with the short-term and medium-term and long-term goals. We believe this is just as important,’ saysCarine Smith Ihenacho, chief governance officer for Norway’s $1.3 trillion wealth fund.
There’s more on all this in this Guardian article, which points out that fossil fuel companies are now using net zero targets as cover for expanding production. The executives in charge should be behind bars.
Ready to call bullshit on these companies and the asset managers that still invest in them? Support our campaign for fossil fuel-free funds in South Africa and around the world. If you’re a client of one of South Africa’s top asset managers, sign our letters demanding fossil free funds from SA’s top asset managers now.