Three U.S. oil giants joined an international coalition of energy companies pledging to battle climate change, adding major weight behind the environmental movement.
Chevron, ExxonMobil and Occidental Petroleum are due to become official members of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative, a worldwide coalition of fossil fuel companies attempting to reduce the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. The mission of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative includes a host of goals, such as reducing the world’s methane emissions, developing better energy efficiency and funding technological innovations that can cut global warming.
“It will take the collective efforts of many in the energy industry and society to develop scalable, affordable solutions that will be needed to address the risks of climate change,” Exxon Chairman and CEO Darren Woods said in a draft statement provided by Axios.
There are currently 10 members of the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative. European members include BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Total. State-run energy companies also make up the group, including Mexico’s Pemex and China’s CNPC. The three incoming American companies — Exxon, Chevron and Occidental Petroleum — will become official members Monday at an event in New York City held in conjunction with Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. (RELATED: A Prominent Anti-Exxon Crusader Unwittingly Undermined Her Own Movement)
Members contribute to an investment fund of over $1 billion that finances the development of inventions that would lead to fewer carbon emissions, such as carbon capture technology and other projects. The soon-to-be 13-member group makes up 30 percent of the world’s oil and gas output.
Monday’s event will make a sharp turning point for the three companies, none of which joined when the coalition was formed in 2014. However, many environmentalists are skeptical of the energy companies’ motives, arguing the coalition isn’t doing enough to tackle climate change.
“It is hardly surprising that ExxonMobil, when faced with lawsuits for lying for decades about what it knew about climate change, should want to join an initiative that claims oil companies care about climate,” stated Oil Change International campaigner Greg Muttitt, according to The Guardian.
Muttitt’s comments were a clear reference to the #ExxonKnew campaign, a drive by environmentalists to sue Exxon for purportedly knowing about the effects of greenhouse gases and climate change, but choosing to withhold the information from the public.
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