Big oil ‘fully owned the villain role’ in 2023, the hottest year ever recorded

In 2023, the year that went down in recorded history as the warmest ever, the titans of the fossil fuel industry intensified their business models that contribute to global warming. This was in stark contrast to the promises made by oil and gas giants to reduce their emissions and focus more on clean energy. Collin Rees from Oil Change International put it bluntly, stating this clear evidence proves that they are "unfit to play a role in the energy transition."

There have been grand claims made by the major oil companies in recent years about tackling climate change. BP declared it would reduce its fossil fuel investment by 35 to 40%. Shell pledged its commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Exxon claimed it would cut emissions and gas flaring and hailed its investment in algae as a potentially carbon-free fuel source. Chevron had similarly announced its aspiration to reach net zero upstream emissions by 2050. Many oil corporations assented to an initiative to control their methane emissions.

However, the actions taken by these companies during 2023 greatly opposed these grand climate plans. Rees stated that "They've been more open about their plans to continue polluting". This became evident in October when ExxonMobil stated its intent to purchase the shale group Pioneer Natural Resources and Chevron disclosed its plans to take over the Texas oil company Hess, creating two of the largest oil and gas deals in the country in recent times. These proposed mergers are now under investigation by federal regulators on suspicions of competitive obstruction. Both mergers appear to show Exxon and Chevron betting heavily on the continued production of fossil fuels across the United States, even though a scientific consensus agrees that fossil fuels must be gradually eliminated to prevent worsening the climate crisis. Even prior climate pledges made by fossil fuel giants were renounced in the same year.

Meanwhile, BP back-peddled on its commitment to cut emissions by 35% by the end of the decade to a lower target of 20 to 30%. ExxonMobil discreetly reversed its funding in algae-based biofuels, and Shell declared it would not augment its investments in renewable energy in 2023. A volatile market was a significant factor behind this drastic shift in strategies. According to experts, when fossil fuels started losing their profitability a few years ago, the companies declared their intentions to diversify their business modes. However, as gas prices spiked after the Ukraine invasion by Russia in 2022, record profits were observed in the fossil fuel industry. In 2023, the United States extracted more oil and gas than ever before, and globally, the fossil fuel industry invested twice as much in oil and gas as advisable to prevent disastrous climate change, according to last month's findings by the International Energy Agency.

"They have confirmed without a doubt that their commitments were for manipulative political reasons, only to be abandoned when they no longer served the industry's strategic objectives," said Dan Cohn, a global energy transition researcher at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, in July.

Rees adds that hopefully the industry’s conduct in 2023 will dispel notions that marginal adjustments to energy policy can bring about the required climate action. There is now potential for broader discussions on how to “oversee the controlled reduction of the industry” in a way that doesn’t leave the industry governing its own destiny. He added, “This could potentially involve cutting off financial streams to the sector and also taking public control of the companies”. He further emphasized that the villainous role so openly embraced by the industry might inspire our champions to rise and realize the extent of what is required.