BP has cut its oil cut. Now the heavy owners will vote against re-election in Helge Lund – Vårt Land

A “green riot” is expected during the general meeting of the British oil company BP tomorrow, Thursday. writes The Guardian newspaper.

Earlier this year, BP scaled back its climate ambitions. The Guardian has now written that three pension funds are likely to vote against re-electing Helge Lund as president. Lund is the former CEO of Statoil and has been Chairman of BP since January 2019.

In 2020, BP is gone with the goal of achieving net zero emissions In 2050. BP’s newly appointed CEO, Bernard Looney, said BP had to change. Looney envisioned BP investing more in low-carbon businesses, and less in oil and gas.

Helge Lund stated that the board supported the ambitions of Bernard and his new management team, adding: “Aiming for net zero is not only the right thing for BP, it’s the right thing for our shareholders and for society more broadly.”

Part of the plan to achieve net zero by 2050 was to cut oil and gas production by 40 percent by 2030.

But in February that became the goal dropped to 25 percentafter BP recorded the largest profit in the company’s 114-year history, due to high oil and gas prices.

[ Oljeselskapenes klimagrep kan virke mot sin hensikt ]

Three heavy bearers

Campaign organization Follow This has submitted a proposal to the plenary to commit to a net zero strategy by 2030 and ensure that the company remains aligned with the goals set out in the Paris Agreement. According to the think tank Carbon Tracker, two-thirds of oil, gas and coal reserves must remain unused in order to reach the goal of limiting the temperature increase to 1.5 degrees.

Among the shareholders who would support the proposal by Follow This is pension fund Nest (the National Employment Savings Fund), which manages the pensions of 11 million Britons.

The fund’s head of responsible oversight, Diandra Swobia, tells the Guardian that Nest is very concerned about the company’s future success if BP abandons its original net-zero course.

The College Savings Program and Border to Coast funds also said they would vote in favor of the resolution from Follow This.

Follow this and put forward similar proposals, among others, at the general meeting of the oil company Shell.

He bears a lot of responsibility

Gina Gelver, Head of Nature and Youth, believes it’s critical that Helge Lund and the rest of BP’s leaders start listening to the research and climate demands of their shareholders, and ensure they have a concrete plan of action in line with the Paris Agreement.

Then they should put new oil and gas projects on hold, invest heavily in green industry, and stop breaking climate promises once oil prices go up. Gilver says this applies not only to BP, but also to all other oil companies.

She’s excited to see the debate, and it’s interesting that such big players as the three aforementioned pension funds are making such clear demands on BP.

– The international oil company is making a fortune by increasing oil and gas production, while the globe is literally on fire. For decades after decades they’ve known the consequences of the ever-accelerating climate crisis, and now we have seven years to cut global emissions in half.

How much responsibility should oil companies take when politicians want income and energy?

I think companies have a huge responsibility. We know they have been sitting with knowledge for many decades about the consequences of what they do. With the largest profit in the company’s history, BP has the financial power. Politicians act very slowly and they also have limited means of action. Therefore, this should be a collaboration in which oil companies should be involved and set ambitious goals. They must realize that this will have consequences for their business and contribute to building a new green industry at record speed, Gilver says.

[ SV reagerer på at kristen skole tilbyr elever 5.000 kroner for å skaffe nye elever ]