Oil, Gas Companies Invest Less Than 1% in Green Energy

A leading energy group asks the oil and gas industry to work smarter and faster to discuss the climate crisis if it wants to remain profitable.

Oil and gasoline groups must do much more to respond to the risk of climate change, and can't rely on fossil fuels to maintain using returns, the International Energy Agency said.

The report said the industry had contributed 1 percent of its annual capital expenditure towards low-carbon businesses since 2015.

Some corporations have spent as much as 5 percent, but "there are few signs and symptoms of the big-scale trade in capital allocation had to put the sector on an extra sustainable path," it said.

In a statement, International Energy Agency's government director, Fatih Birol said no energy company would be unaffected using clean power transitions.

He said every part of the industry must consider ways to respond in solving climate change. "Doing nothing is not an option," Birol added.

Oil companies are going through mounting pressure from investors, governments, and activists to put money into renewable energy to address the climate crisis.

Environmental commitments by the oil companies in solving the climate crisis- including Shell, BP, and ExxonMobil - have been incredibly modest so far despite low oil and natural gas prices.

BP, according to its yearly file, invested approximately 3 percent of annual capital expenditure in low carbon sports in 2018.

Shell has a three-year target since 2019 to lessen its carbon footprint by two to three percent, even as ExxonMobil has invested US$9 billion to lower their emission energy.

ALSO READ: Amid Environmental Advocates' Pressure, Shell Exec. Sees Opportunity to Make Money from the Oil Industry

Reducing emissions

Birol said the first immediate task for all components of the industry is to lower the carbon footprint of their operations.

Around 15 percent of the global energy-associated greenhouse gas emissions, according to Birol, comes from the oil and gasoline out of the ground and to consumers. "A big part of these emissions could be brought down quite fast and easily," he said.

Oil and gas companies could also play a vital function in accelerating the use of clean power technology - such as carbon capture storage, offshore wind, hydrogen power. 

IEA said the value of producing these technologies develop an investment in companies' capacity to prosper in the long term.

State oil firms

The report underscored the crucial role played by state-owned oil corporations, including Saudi Aramco, which accounts for more than half of the global manufacturing and a larger share of reserves. In many cases, their host countries rely solely on oil income.

The seven largest oil and gas agencies account for just 12 percent of oil and fuel reserves, 15 percent of manufacturing, and 10 percent of emissions from business operations, according to the document.

"The scale of the climate crisis requires a wide coalition encompassing governments, investors, organizations and anyone else who is dedicated to decreasing emissions," stated Birol.

The International Energy Agency's report would be presented on the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday.