Twelve oil companies, including Shell and BP, have been accused of “greenwashing” the amount of renewable and low-carbon energy they produce.
The study, commissioned by Greenpeace, analyzed the 2022 annual reports of the UK’s fossil fuel giants, along with 10 other European companies.
The report compares the amount of renewable electricity generated by these companies (wind, solar, geothermal and hydro) with the amount of energy they provide through their own oil and gas production.
vague
According to the analysis, by 2022, Shell and BP’s renewable energy generation capacity will be only 0.02% and 0.17%, respectively.
At the same time, the report found that the companies invested in green energy last year at a fraction of what they invested in fossil fuels.
For BP, 97% of investments are in fossil fuels, while the company has reduced investment in renewables compared to 2021, while Shell’s 91% of investments are in fossil fuels.
Greenpeace has accused oil majors of greenwashing, saying the companies widely tout offshore wind and solar in their annual reports and marketing.
BP is an example of a company that “endlessly repeats the same vague sustainability goals” in its reports, the group’s research said.
Fraction
For example, BP has been touting its renewable energy ambitions for years, but its 2022 report did not give figures for wind and solar capacity for that year, it added.
BP also sees its investment in gas station convenience stores as “low carbon” and takes a broader approach to transformational growth capital expenditure, the study added.
For Shell, the analysis found the company had reported a “significant misrepresentation” of its “renewable energy capacity” figure for fiscal 2022, reporting 6.4 GW.
However, the footnote said this included plants still under construction or committed to sale, with Shell’s actual 2.2 GW of capacity by the end of 2022 already reported elsewhere in its report.
Shell also considers anything that emits slightly less than conventional oil or gas to be “low carbon,” the study added.
crime
It comes as both oil majors have faced criticism this year for backtracking on green targets.
Kuba Gogolevski, a financial campaigner for Greenpeace Central and Eastern Europe, said: “As the world suffers from unprecedented heatwaves, deadly floods and escalating storms, big oil companies are sticking to their destructive business models and continuing to exacerbate the climate crisis.
“Their already inadequate decarbonisation plan is a shell; instead of providing the clean energy we so desperately need, they are giving us greenwashing garbage.
“Big Oil’s unwillingness to implement real change is a crime against the climate and future generations.”
