tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/fossil-fuel-industry-25248/articlesFossil fuel industry – The Conversation2024-03-21T11:36:19Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2262462024-03-21T11:36:19Z2024-03-21T11:36:19ZClimate quitting: the people leaving their fossil fuel jobs because of climate change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/583118/original/file-20240320-16-57513d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=89%2C134%2C5901%2C3853&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/close-woman-hold-piece-paper-quit-430986301">Mayuree Moonhirun/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the climate crisis gets ever more severe, the fossil fuel industry is <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/big-oils-talent-crisis-high-salaries-are-no-longer-enough-194545be">struggling to recruit new talent</a>. And now a number of existing employees are deciding to leave their jobs, some quietly, some very publicly, because of concerns over climate change. </p>
<p>In this episode of <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/the-conversation-weekly-98901">The Conversation Weekly podcast</a>, we speak to a researcher about this phenomenon of “climate quitting”.</p>
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<p>My name is Caroline Dennett and this is my resignation.</p>
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<p>In a video posted on <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/caroline-dennett-6161a814_jumpship-truthteller-activity-6934409781495431168-7l1f?utm_source=linkedin_share&utm_medium=member_desktop_web">LinkedIn</a> in 2022, Caroline Dennett, a senior safety consultant working at a major oil company, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/23/shell-consultant-quits-environment-caroline-dennett">announced she was terminating her contract</a> because of what she called the company’s “double-talk” on climate. </p>
<p>When Grace Augustine and her colleague Birth Soppe saw the video, which went viral, they decided to start looking for more people who had left their jobs because of concerns over climate change. </p>
<p>Augustine, an associate professor in business and society at the University of Bath in the UK, and Soppe, an associate professor of organisation studies, at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, have so far conducted interviews with 39 people from around the world in their ongoing research. Most, though not all, of their interviewees are young people who work in white collar jobs in the oil and gas sector. </p>
<p>One man they spoke to explained the feelings that led him to leave his job.</p>
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<p>On a Friday afternoon travelling home, I would feel physically uncomfortable. And I was wondering: why am I feeling physically uncomfortable? I had a good week, I’ve done good work. And then you realise that, you may have done good work, but the goal that you’re working towards is evil in a way; does not align with your moral compass.</p>
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<p>Many referred to having a sense of cognitive dissonance – the idea that your behaviour doesn’t match your belief system. And they couldn’t live it with any longer. Augustine explained:</p>
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<p>They were increasingly feeling a sense of urgency around the climate crisis … something that they’d thought might be happening ten, 15, 20 years down the line, such as heat records being broken or climate related weather events. They felt an increasing sense that it couldn’t wait any longer for them to leave this industry.</p>
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<p>Listen to Grace Augustine talk about her ongoing research on <a href="https://pod.link/1550643487">The Conversation Weekly</a> podcast, which also features extracts from her interviews and an introduction from Sam Phelps, commissioning editor for international affairs at The Conversation in the UK. </p>
<p><em>A transcript of this episode will be available shortly.</em></p>
<p><em>Thanks to Grace Augustine for getting permission for The Conversation to use clips from her interviews, and to her interview subjects who agreed to let us use their voices and statements in this podcast.</em> </p>
<p><em>This episode of The Conversation Weekly was written and produced by Katie Flood, with assistance from Mend Mariwany. Gemma Ware is the executive producer. Sound design was by Eloise Stevens, and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Stephen Khan is our global executive editor, Alice Mason runs our social media and Soraya Nandy does our transcripts.</em></p>
<p><em>Newsclips in this episode were from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAJsdgTPJpU">PBS News Hour</a>.</em></p>
<p><em>You can find us on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/theconversationdotcom/">theconversationdotcom</a> or <a href="mailto:podcast@theconversation.com">via email</a>. You can also subscribe to The Conversation’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/newsletter">free daily email here</a>.</em></p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Grace Augustine receives funding from The British Academy and Leverhulme Trust. </span></em></p>Grace Augustine talks about her interviews with people who’ve chosen to leave their jobs over climate change concerns on The Conversation Weekly podcast.Gemma Ware, Editor and Co-Host, The Conversation Weekly Podcast, The ConversationLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2231642024-02-26T21:18:58Z2024-02-26T21:18:58ZRenewable energy innovation isn’t just good for the climate — it’s also good for the economy<p>As the climate crisis escalates, there are urgent and difficult choices that need to be made to drastically <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/2023/03/20/press-release-ar6-synthesis-report/">reduce our carbon emissions</a> before more <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg2/chapter/summary-for-policymakers/">irreparable damage</a> is done. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.iea.org/news/new-iea-report-highlights-the-need-and-means-for-the-oil-and-gas-industry-to-drastically-cut-emissions-from-its-operations">Many have argued the energy industry needs to change</a> to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/20/ipcc-climate-crisis-report-delivers-final-warning-on-15c">reduce carbon emissions</a>, but one concern that remains is the consequence this will have on economic prosperity. </p>
<p>Discussions vary across interest groups. Do we need to outright <a href="https://priceofoil.org/2023/08/16/shut-down-60-percent-existing-fossil-fuel-extraction-1-5c/">replace the fossil fuel industry with the renewable energy industry</a> as soon as possible? Should we slowly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-07999-w">phase out fossil fuels while making clean renewable replacements</a>? Or, should we <a href="https://oilprice.com/Energy/Oil-Prices/Why-We-Still-Need-Oil-Gas-For-Decades-To-Come.html">continue with a powerful fossil fuel industry</a> while separately growing a renewable industry in parallel? </p>
<p>How these different choices could impact our economies seems unclear, and it is this lack of clarity that opens up the field for frustrating discussions. At the recent COP28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates, the conference president shockingly said that there is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/03/back-into-caves-cop28-president-dismisses-phase-out-of-fossil-fuels">“no science”</a> behind any decision to phase-out fossil fuels from our energy systems — a statement which he later <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/live/2023/dec/04/cop28-backlash-after-president-claims-no-science-behind-fossil-fuel-phase-out">claimed was “misinterpreted.”</a> </p>
<p>My recent research <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141018">examines energy industry restructuring options for a green transition to renewable energy</a> from an economic perspective.</p>
<p>Although economic analysis is helpful, it is not sufficient on its own for making these important decisions. So, my research also draws on <a href="http://www.un-documents.net/our-common-future.pdf">sustainability</a> which involves considering the conditions faced by future generations, and a concept known as <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/equifinality">equifinality</a> reminding us to keep our minds open to many possible approaches that may satisfy the same objectives.</p>
<h2>Renewable energy innovation and GDP</h2>
<p>My research indicates that renewable energy innovation contributes to higher GDP. Contrary to some commonly held beliefs, a clean transition is, and has been for at least a decade, good for the economy — even in earlier stages of its development. </p>
<p>My findings also suggest that <a href="https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/how-us-oil-and-gas-industry-works">government and industry support for the fossil fuel industry</a> negatively affects a country’s renewable energy innovation. The two industries are not compatible. </p>
<p>When the fossil fuel industry invests in itself, it also <a href="https://www.canadianenergycentre.ca/the-oil-and-gas-sectors-contribution-to-canadas-economy-2/">appears to improve GDP</a>, which creates confusion about the best way to ensure economic prosperity while transitioning to clean energy.</p>
<p>But this investment, often made through <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/cop28-fossil-fuel-lobbyists-1.7048746">lobbying</a>, only prolongs the existence of the fossil fuel industry by keeping renewable energy competition out. This creates a false dichotomy between reducing emissions and improving GDP when, in fact, clean innovation can achieve both simultaneously.</p>
<p>My research indicates that clean innovation makes a stronger economy <em>and</em> reduces emissions. If we want to reinforce that dual progress, rather than accepting trade-offs, then we have to stop supporting the fossil fuel industry which aims to slow it down.</p>
<h2>Helping renewable energy thrive</h2>
<p>Economically speaking, the fossil fuel industry is <a href="https://competition-policy.ec.europa.eu/about/why-competition-policy-important-consumers_en">negatively impacting consumer welfare</a> by maintaining <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/oil-gas-enserva-report-industry-canadian-energy-sector-1.7059687">higher-than-necessary prices due to limited competition</a>. This, in turn, bumps up GDP through inflated profits, having subsidised an already dominant polluting industry, reducing clean innovation and delaying cleaner progress — obviously not the way to grow a healthy economy. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gdp.asp#toc-gdp-vs-gnp-vs-gni">In fact, GDP is not a standard of living measure or a measure of innovative competitiveness</a>. To address inflation and the cost of living crisis, we should be promoting more competition across industries. This is a more productive type of capitalism that brings wider benefits to all of us, including more innovation, lower prices, and better products for domestic and export markets.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.ipolitics.ca/opinions/we-must-stop-investing-in-the-fools-gold-that-is-fossil-fuel">Government subsidies</a> that boost the fossil fuel industry hinder consumer welfare and the transition to clean energy. Some examples include subsidies to fund more <a href="https://www.desmog.com/2023/12/08/report-canada-u-s-carbon-capture-and-storage-ccs-public-subsidies-funding-oil-change-international/">carbon capture and storage technology</a> and the use of fossil energy in <a href="https://environmentaldefence.ca/federal-fossil-fuel-subsidies-tracking/">hydrogen storage systems</a>. </p>
<p>Instead of funding these backward subsidies, governments should implement <a href="https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/climate-change/pricing-pollution-how-it-will-work/putting-price-on-carbon-pollution.html">pollution taxes</a> while also supporting renewable energy innovation. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/state-owned-energy-companies-are-among-the-worlds-most-polluting-putting-a-price-on-carbon-could-help-213501">State-owned energy companies are among the world's most polluting – putting a price on carbon could help</a>
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<p>My research demonstrates that pollution taxes work well with clean innovation capabilities. Supporting research and innovation in renewable energy and using a carbon tax as a tool can boost the economic benefits of transitioning to clean energy.</p>
<p>The findings of my work suggest that a robust economy is related to industry restructuring so that renewable energy innovation can thrive. Fostering novel scientific discoveries in clean energy innovation should be prioritized while reducing non-competitive industry formations and organizations, such as fossil fuel oligopolies and industry associations.</p>
<h2>Making decisions with the future in mind</h2>
<p>Increasing public awareness and understanding of <a href="https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/09/oil-companies-discourage-climate-action-study-says/">fossil fuel industry games</a> is a way to accelerate change. It’s important to recognize that industries at different <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/industrylifecycle.asp">life cycle stages</a> contribute to the economy in different ways. </p>
<p>A newer rising industry with determined entrepreneurs, like that of renewable energy, invests in innovation to create value. On the other hand, a declining industry plays end-game strategies, like engaging in self-promotional activities, to maintain their existing position and <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/061115/how-strong-are-barriers-entry-oil-and-gas-sector.asp">create barriers to new industry entries</a>. </p>
<p>However, consumer welfare increases with competition, not collusion. Economic analysis is not sufficient on its own for decision-making in this area because positive economic outcomes can be generated by different kinds of strategies supporting an industry’s life cycle goals.</p>
<p>Government policy decisions should be made based on economic analyses alongside broader sustainability criteria. Ignoring the equifinality argument and reverting to discussions about <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-13/cop28-deal-signals-role-for-gas-in-transition-to-clean-energy">replacing coal with gas as a bridge</a> only ensures fossil fuels remain in use for at least another generation of infrastructure. </p>
<p>Communities should apply sustainability and equifinality lenses to decision-making, understanding that there are many possible means to an end. For example, if a community has specific concerns about one type of renewable energy system, they should explore <a href="https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-renewable-energy">other alternative clean energy options</a> instead of defaulting to fossil fuels. </p>
<p>An educated public should reject simplistic and single-sided arguments and understand there are usually more nuanced solutions to problems supported by evidence-based analysis. By embracing a more holistic approach, we can develop more sustainable societies by opening up renewable energy possibilities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223164/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Deborah de Lange receives funding from SSHRC and ESRC. She is a member of/volunteer for the Liberal Party of Canada and The Writers' Union of Canada.</span></em></p>Recent research about energy industry restructuring options for a green transition indicates that innovation in renewable energy positively influences GDP.Deborah de Lange, Associate Professor, Global Management Studies, Toronto Metropolitan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2233882024-02-13T16:49:54Z2024-02-13T16:49:54ZOil and gas lobbyists have deep pockets and access to politicians, but an EU ban could be in the pipeline<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575403/original/file-20240213-26-2g2mmx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">corlaffra / shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A public interest ban on big oil and gas companies engaging with and influencing politicians could be in the pipeline as the European Parliament is hosting a <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/280822/RevFinal%20PROGRAMME_PETI%20hearing%2014.02.2024%20.pdf">hearing</a> on fossil fuel lobbying on February 14.</p>
<p>Something similar is already in place for the tobacco industry in order to safeguard public health. The European Parliament is set to examine what lessons can be learned to protect the environment from the harms associated with continued use of fossil fuels.</p>
<p>The context here is important. Restrictions on tobacco lobbyists, known as the <a href="https://fctc.who.int/who-fctc/overview">Framework Convention on Tobacco Control</a> (FCTC), came into force in 2005 and are legally binding in 182 countries. Among other relevant restrictions, <a href="https://treaties.un.org/doc/Treaties/2003/05/20030506%2002-12%20PM/Ch_IX_04p.pdf">Article 5.3</a> of the convention states that: “Parties shall act to protect [their public health] policies from commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry.”</p>
<p>The restrictions were promoted by the World Health Organization to protect public health, in the wake of class action lawsuits in the US demonstrating clearly that the tobacco industry had <a href="https://publichealthlawcenter.org/sites/default/files/resources/tclc-fs-DOJ-litigation-overview-2015.pdf">misled governments and regulators</a>, and covered up the scientific evidence pointing to tobacco harms. </p>
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<img alt="pipeline extends across flat grassy land to horizon" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575363/original/file-20240213-26-tkrn9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=15%2C0%2C3424%2C2163&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575363/original/file-20240213-26-tkrn9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575363/original/file-20240213-26-tkrn9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575363/original/file-20240213-26-tkrn9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=493&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575363/original/file-20240213-26-tkrn9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575363/original/file-20240213-26-tkrn9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/575363/original/file-20240213-26-tkrn9j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Tobacco-style regulations in the pipeline?</span>
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<p>The parallels with Big Oil are increasingly obvious. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/15/business/california-oil-lawsuit-newsom.html">Litigation in the US</a> has shown that some of the major oil companies actively engaged in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/jan/12/exxon-climate-change-global-warming-research">deception, denial</a> and increasingly now delay tactics. But delaying policies to address the climate emergency pose a huge societal risk. This is what is at stake in Brussels. </p>
<p>The oil industry insists on its <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7036990965873528832?updateEntityUrn=urn%3Ali%3Afs_updateV2%3A%28urn%3Ali%3Aactivity%3A7036990965873528832%2CFEED_DETAIL%2CEMPTY%2CDEFAULT%2Cfalse%29">right to democratic participation</a>. But the European Parliament hearing will consider whether the industry has acted in bad faith, and whether it is time to develop new laws and guidelines to manage the risks and harms associated with fossil fuels.</p>
<h2>Dominating discussions</h2>
<p>There is increased awareness that current climate policies are not addressing the scale of the climate crisis. Fossil fuel interests <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-fossil-fuel-companies-won-cop28-211212">dominated recent COP meetings</a>, promoting a number of industry-friendly narratives such as an emphasis on reducing emissions rather than fossil fuel production itself, and a commitment to tackling only “unabated” fossil fuel use. This is code for continuing to burn fossil fuels, but to try to abate some of the emissions using as yet unproven carbon capture technologies.</p>
<p>Many leading climate scientists are growing <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/climate/accountability">increasingly concerned</a> about the continued influence of oil and gas lobbyists. The industry still enjoys privileged access to the highest reaches of decision making in Europe. The EU’s delegation to the recent COP28 included over <a href="https://kickbigpollutersout.org/articles/release-record-number-fossil-fuel-lobbyists-attend-cop28">130 oil and gas industry lobbyists</a>. </p>
<p>For the past few years some of the leading environmental groups in Brussels have been boycotting events where oil and gas lobbyists are participating, to try to disrupt what they term the capture of energy policy by fossil fuel interests through sponsorships, partnerships and official collaborations. Lobbying disclosures on the EU’s <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/transparencyregister/public/consultation/searchControllerPager.do?declaration=oil+and+gas&search=search">Transparency Register</a> show that fossil fuel interests are among the <a href="https://corporateeurope.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/FFP%20Briefing%20-%20Big%20Oil%20and%20Gas%20buying%20influence%20in%20Brussels%20-%20Oct%202019.pdf">biggest spenders and most active lobbyists</a> in Brussels. </p>
<p>The industry has unfettered access to senior officials and politicians, and has the deepest of pockets to pay for lobbyists, event sponsorships and employ experts to participate in technical and regulatory meetings in Brussels that inform EU policy. It is therefore little wonder that environmentalists and some Members of the European Parliament want to rethink the relationship between the fossil fuel industry and politics.</p>
<p>Those working for oil and gas interests in Brussels are unlikely to welcome parallels being drawn between their sector <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/jul/05/us-lawsuit-big-tobacco-big-oil-fossil-fuel-companies">and the tobacco industry</a>. They insist that all interests have the right to legitimately participate in policy making (and in so doing they are defending their privileged position), and that the technical expertise of oil and gas companies is needed in the energy transition. </p>
<p>Recently, the industry has used concerns about energy supply since the conflict in Ukraine to <a href="https://iogpeurope.org/news/repowereu-plan-domestic-gas-production-deserves-stronger-role-alongside-imports-and-renewables-in-enhancing-eu-energy-resilience/">propose renewed gas exploration within Europe</a>. This is part of a new policy agenda that prioritises Europe’s “strategic autonomy” on energy issues, and in the view of oil and gas lobbyists necessitates increased reliance on fossil fuels – and existing infrastructure – in the short to medium term.</p>
<p>Another parallel with the tobacco industry is perhaps instructive here. The tobacco industry has been accused of <a href="https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/tobacco-industry-pro-vaping-campaign-investigation-m82dtl93s">promoting vaping</a> as a health tool (since it claims vaping is an effective smoking cessation technology). But vaping has had the impact of <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-damning-review-of-e-cigarettes-shows-vaping-leads-to-smoking-the-opposite-of-what-supporters-claim-180675">hooking a huge number of young people</a> into a new habit and creating another generation of tobacco industry customers. </p>
<p>Similarly, the fossil fuels industry has been heavily promoting the idea of gas as a <a href="https://www.channel4.com/news/revealed-fossil-fuel-companies-lobby-uk-government-for-gas-compromise-ahead-of-cop26">transition fuel</a>, and lobbying for the continued investment in gas exploration and exploitation, which will mean continued use of pipelines and industry infrastructure for many years to come.</p>
<p>With industry lobbyists working to “lock in” fossil fuels, and environmentalists considering how to “lock out” fossil fuels from policy making, the hearing in the European Parliament should be instructive. What happens with lobbying will give a sense of how Europe will grapple with the challenges of the transition to low carbon energy.</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Will Dinan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Tobacco lobbyists are strongly regulated – could a ‘tobacco-style’ ban work for fossil fuel interests?Will Dinan, Senior Lecturer, Communications, Media and Culture, University of StirlingLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2196592023-12-14T13:19:21Z2023-12-14T13:19:21ZMaking fossil fuel companies accountable for their products’ emissions would support the clean energy transition<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565451/original/file-20231213-19-i7u4ln.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C11%2C3834%2C2140&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cars-traffic-jam-create-huge-exhaust-2341640587">Konrad Kozaczuk/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I recently found myself among a group of alarmed scientists, writing a fervent <a href="https://www.smurfitschool.ie/news/openletterexpertspleaforadvancementoftheeuropeansustainabilityreportingstandards.html">plea to the European Commission</a> to be more ambitious when it comes to corporate greenhouse gas reporting requirements. Our open letter calling for comprehensive disclosure of corporations’ contribution to the climate crisis gathered support from over 100 fellow researchers around the world. </p>
<p>So, news from the COP28 global climate change conference this year that countries have agreed to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/countries-push-cop28-deal-fossil-fuels-talks-spill-into-overtime-2023-12-12/#:%7E:text=DUBAI%2C%20Dec%2013%20(Reuters),end%20of%20the%20oil%20age.">“transition away from fossil fuels”</a> is welcome, although it’s far from the level of ambition needed. </p>
<p>One of the actions that could help properly address fossil fuel production is a much stronger stance from regulators on the fossil fuel sector’s <a href="https://ghgprotocol.org/blog/you-too-can-master-value-chain-emissions">scope 3 emissions</a>, which arise from other parts of a company’s supply chain, and so are indirectly linked to a company’s activities. In particular, we need more transparency around a scope 3 category called “use of product” emissions – those that come from people using a company’s product after it’s sold.</p>
<p>This was also <a href="https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2023-12-03/secretary-generals-remarks-roundtable-report-of-high-level-expert-group-net-zero%C2%A0">pointed out recently</a> by António Guterres, secretary general of the UN.</p>
<p>“On the one hand, the fossil fuel industry – the giant behind the climate crisis – is finally starting to wake up,” he said. “But the promises made clearly fall short of what is required … the announcement to achieve net zero by 2050 says nothing about eliminating emissions from fossil fuel consumption – the so-called Scope 3.”</p>
<p>Under the <a href="https://ghgprotocol.org/">greenhouse gas protocol</a>, the industry standard for accounting for corporate emissions, scope 3 emissions include “upstream” emissions, for example, goods and services bought by a company, but also “downstream” emissions such as those related to distribution or waste management. </p>
<p>Importantly, scope 3 also includes emissions from the use of products a company sells. This means it’s an excellent test of whether a business model will actually work in a net zero world. </p>
<p>Fossil fuels, by their nature, will always emit greenhouse gases when burned in a car or plane, or in gas-fired power plants. An oil firm may reduce direct emissions from its own operations (generally called scope 1 and scope 2) by putting solar panels on its refineries and improving its efficiency, but its use of product emissions is directly related to the amount of fossil fuels the firm sells, which generates the revenues the company depends on.</p>
<p><a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4100089">Research</a> I conducted with a fellow academic looked at emissions across 11 sectors. This paper, which is a preprint and so has not been through the peer-review process yet, shows that scope 3 emissions constitute an average of 86% of total emissions. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Bar chart showing Scope 3 emissions as much higher than Scope 1 & Scope 2 for all sectors." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564956/original/file-20231211-17-r88izb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564956/original/file-20231211-17-r88izb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564956/original/file-20231211-17-r88izb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564956/original/file-20231211-17-r88izb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564956/original/file-20231211-17-r88izb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564956/original/file-20231211-17-r88izb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564956/original/file-20231211-17-r88izb.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4100089">Hoepner & Schneider</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>To put the size of scope 3 in perspective: in 2022 oil giant ExxonMobil’s self-reported emissions from the use of its crude and natural gas products – that’s just one of the 15 scope 3 categories – were <a href="https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/-/media/global/files/advancing-climate-solutions-progress-report/2023/2023-acs-ghg-data-supplement.pdf">540 million metric tons CO₂-equivalent (Mt CO₂e)</a>. This is <a href="https://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/report_2023#:%7E:text=all%20world%20countries-,Main%20findings,61.6%25%20of%20global%20GHG%20emissions">more than</a> the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions (426 Mt CO₂e) and close to Australia’s (571 Mt CO₂e). Despite this, scope 3 emissions have historically been broadly excluded from mandatory reporting requirements and net-zero targets. </p>
<p>It’s <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/us-securities-regulator-signals-it-may-curb-climate-rule-ambitions-2023-11-20/">often argued</a> scope 3 is beyond a company’s control, as the data often cannot be obtained. A producer might say it <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/scope-3-emissions-10-myths-debunked-net0/">doesn’t control</a> how the commodities it sells on global markets are converted into different energy products or used by consumers, for example. But this is an evasive tactic that shifts blame to a company’s suppliers and customers.</p>
<p>This narrow focus also extends to financial markets. Major oil company Eni, for example, just secured a €3 billion (£2.6 billion) “sustainability-linked” <a href="https://www.eni.com/en-IT/media/press-release/2023/12/eni-signs-new-3-billion-euro-sustainability-linked-credit-line.html#:%7E:text=San%20Donato%20Milanese%20(MI)%2C,last%20updated%20in%20April%202023.">revolving credit line</a> involving 26 global banks, including Goldman Sachs, Société Générale and Barclays Bank. This type of loan provides companies with better access to finance if they hit certain sustainability targets. Eni’s deal is linked to sustainability targets related to scope 1 and 2 emissions and disregards scope 3.</p>
<h2>How to cut scope 3 emissions</h2>
<p>The first step to holding firms accountable on scope 3 emissions is to boost transparency. So far, nearly half of companies with material scope 3 emissions <a href="https://clarity.ai/research-and-insights/tackling-scope-3-emissions-a-critical-step-towards-carbon-neutrality/">do not report sufficiently</a>.</p>
<p>Not only is scope 3 reporting significantly behind scope 1 and 2, the most carbon-intensive scope 3 categories are actually the ones that are significantly underreported by most firms. </p>
<p>Recent <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pclm.0000208">research shows</a> that while 86% of firms disclose travel emissions, a mere 24% disclose emissions related to the use of sold products. But travel emissions account for just 0.3% of all scope 3 emissions versus 63% for the use of sold product emissions category – much more than any other scope 3 category.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A wind farm on green fields against a cloudy sky." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565458/original/file-20231213-19-7pb1j2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/565458/original/file-20231213-19-7pb1j2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565458/original/file-20231213-19-7pb1j2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565458/original/file-20231213-19-7pb1j2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565458/original/file-20231213-19-7pb1j2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565458/original/file-20231213-19-7pb1j2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/565458/original/file-20231213-19-7pb1j2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">More transparency about emissions should help reduce fossil fuel use.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/clean-renewable-energy-reduce-carbon-emissions-2241174043">iSOMBOON/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>While there has been <a href="https://www.wemeanbusinesscoalition.org/blog/we-mean-business-coalition-launches-the-supplier-cascade-to-accelerate-supply-chain-decarbonization/">some progress</a> on addressing (upstream) supply chain emissions in company’s purchasing decisions, the downstream use of product emissions will be harder to tackle. You can’t buy your way out of an unsustainable business model – not that some fossil fuel firms don’t try. </p>
<p>Cheap carbon credits sold on the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-22/occidental-to-sell-net-zero-oil-to-south-korea-s-top-refiner?leadSource=uverify%20wall">voluntary carbon offset market</a> are used to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/lundin-sells-its-first-carbon-neutral-oil-climate-activism-grows-2021-04-26/">“offset” emissions from fossil fuels</a> that are then <a href="https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/how-to-sell-carbon-neutral-fossil-fuel-that-doesn-t-exist-1.1638878">labelled and sold</a> as “carbon neutral” – but less than 5% of offsets actually <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-14/what-are-carbon-offsets-and-how-many-really-work-quicktake?leadSource=uverify%20wall">remove carbon from the atmosphere</a>.</p>
<p>That’s why it’s even more critical to require companies to disclose “gross” – the total without deducting offsets – rather than “net” emissions. </p>
<p>The EU missed the opportunity to introduce such emission reporting as part of mandatory disclosures under its Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, implemented via the European Sustainability Reporting Standards in July 2023. As a result, it risks falling behind on climate leadership. </p>
<p>Indeed, in California <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/09/california-carbon-emissions-law">a law</a> was just passed mandating firms, including those privately held, to report on emissions (including scope 3 from 2027) if they operate in the state and have a minimum revenue of US$1 billion (£800 million). This will probably apply to big names like Apple and Chevron. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/exxon-apple-and-other-corporate-giants-will-have-to-disclose-all-their-emissions-under-californias-new-climate-laws-that-will-have-a-global-impact-214630">Exxon, Apple and other corporate giants will have to disclose all their emissions under California's new climate laws – that will have a global impact</a>
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<p>Accounting for scope 3 emissions encourages companies to consider their entire business model when it comes to meeting net zero goals. Merely outsourcing scope 1 or 2 emissions is not feasible; a comprehensive decarbonisation approach is needed. </p>
<p>This could significantly accelerate global decarbonisation efforts. But even more crucially, it would put the onus on corporations, which have been profiting from polluting for years. As a result, they not only have the means but also the ethical obligation to act.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219659/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fabiola Schneider receives funding from public and philanthropic sources to fund research on scope 3 and fossil fuel finance. </span></em></p>Scope 3 emissions remain a crucial sticking point when it comes to strengthening climate reporting by corporations around the world.Fabiola Schneider, Assistant Professor, Dublin City UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2190462023-12-08T16:14:49Z2023-12-08T16:14:49ZFrom the Paris agreement to COP28, how oil and gas giants try to influence the global climate agenda<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564333/original/file-20231207-27-7ium24.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C11%2C3925%2C2497&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/carbon-tax-concept-environmental-pricing-climate-2348760739">Sadi-Santos/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There is “no science” behind demands to phase out fossil fuels, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/03/back-into-caves-cop28-president-dismisses-phase-out-of-fossil-fuels">the current COP president</a>. This level of cynicism at the top of the annual climate summit makes it less surprising that the conference has also been used as <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67508331">an oil trading venue</a>.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/05/record-number-of-fossil-fuel-lobbyists-get-access-to-cop28-climate-talks">record number of fossil fuel lobbyists</a> gained access to the conference this year. So it seems to presage a bright future for fossil fuels, when it should be a venue to discuss how to stop using them.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/cop28-president-is-wrong-science-clearly-shows-fossil-fuels-must-go-and-fast-219128">COP28 president is wrong – science clearly shows fossil fuels must go (and fast)</a>
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<p>But this is not the first time that the international climate agenda has been “hijiacked” by oil companies. In 2015, a few months before COP21 – the summit that lead to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_Agreement">Paris agreement</a>, a comprehensive global agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emission by all countries in the world – six oil majors including BP, Shell and Total, wrote <a href="https://unfccc.int/news/major-oil-companies-letter-to-un">an open letter</a> calling for a carbon tax on companies’ CO2 emissions. Under such a scheme, the more a company pollutes, the more it is taxed.</p>
<p>The oil majors suggested a two step approach. First, implement a carbon tax in all countries. And then – and this is where it gets complicated – they wanted all nations to get in a room and agree on the scheme. In their letter, the six oil majors said they wanted to “create an international framework that could eventually connect national systems”.</p>
<p>But carbon taxes are difficult to implement because of the international coordination they require to be effective. To make a carbon tax work, every country in the world would need to participate. Otherwise there would be what policymakers call <a href="https://climate.ec.europa.eu/eu-action/eu-emissions-trading-system-eu-ets/free-allocation/carbon-leakage_en">carbon leakage</a>. </p>
<p>This is when businesses simply transfer production to other countries with no – or more relaxed – emissions rules. If China started taxing its companies for the CO² they emit but the US refused, for example, it would be less competitive – its taxed products would be more expensive than those from the US. </p>
<p>Getting Russia, China and the US to agree on an international deal today seems <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/02bbdde1-2a9d-416d-953e-68d205be3e19">near impossible</a>. So any talk that advocates for an international carbon tax is cheap. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/china-us-tensions-how-global-trade-began-splitting-into-two-blocs-188380">China-US tensions: how global trade began splitting into two blocs</a>
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<h2>Oil majors as climate activists?</h2>
<p>Some oil companies understand that public opinion on climate change is shifting and are starting to reflect this in their public actions. Exxon’s CEO, Darren Woods,<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/fcf73abc-4202-11e7-9d56-25f963e998b2">urged then-US president Donald Trump</a> to stay in the Paris agreement after Trump <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-54797743">announced plans to withdraw</a> the US in 2017. This decision was later <a href="https://www.state.gov/the-united-states-officially-rejoins-the-paris-agreement/">reversed by Biden</a>. Woods and Exxon also <a href="https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/news/news-releases/statements/our-position-on-climate-policy-and-carbon-pricing">publicly advocate</a> for a carbon tax.</p>
<p>As some of the world’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/09/revealed-20-firms-third-carbon-emissions">most polluting companies</a>, oil producers surely have an interest in avoiding such taxes. But my <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921800923003087">recent research</a> shows that 54% of oil and gas companies with a policy on carbon taxes support them (78% of the 50 largest firms by reserves). Among the 100 largest globally, I found 19 in favour of carbon taxes and 16 against them. 49 fossil fuel companies, mostly smaller operators, have no public position on the issue.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Barrels of oil with an industrial plant in the background, blue sky and clouds or smoke." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564322/original/file-20231207-25-n4uprb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564322/original/file-20231207-25-n4uprb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564322/original/file-20231207-25-n4uprb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564322/original/file-20231207-25-n4uprb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=338&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564322/original/file-20231207-25-n4uprb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564322/original/file-20231207-25-n4uprb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/564322/original/file-20231207-25-n4uprb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Fossil fuel production and use contributes a lot to global emissions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-illustration/rockoil-barrels-on-processing-storage-plant-2343133011">Dancing_Man/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>So why do oil companies support a carbon tax?</h2>
<p>In June 2021, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/sustainable-business/exxon-lobbyist-duped-by-greenpeace-says-climate-policy-was-ploy-ceo-condemns-2021-06-30/">undercover interviews</a> conducted by Greenpeace activists who posed as headhunters to interview a lobbyist for ExxonMobil, showed the lobbyist claiming to support a carbon tax because it would be politically impossible to implement. </p>
<p>The lobbyist concerned later apologised, saying he was embarrassed that he “allowed myself to fall for Greenpeace’s deception”. And <a href="https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/news/news-releases/2021/0630_exxonmobil-comments-on-recorded-interviews">ExxonMobil’s Woods</a> condemned the statements made during the interview. He said they don’t “represent the company’s position” and that the lobbyist was never involved in developing corporate policy on the issue.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, that’s one theory for fossil fuel company support – if there’s no real risk of a carbon tax being implemented. It’s like supporting the introduction of CO²-eating unicorns to reduce atmospheric CO². The idea is beautiful but impractical.</p>
<p>One way around potential deadlock is to establish a carbon border tax. The EU wants to do this with its <a href="https://multimedia.europarl.europa.eu/en/video/the-carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism-explained_N01_AFPS_230524_FIT3">Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)</a>. This would place a carbon tax on any goods produced abroad that have not already been taxed in their country of production – it’s essentially a customs tax for countries that refuse to implement a carbon tax. </p>
<p>This tax could be a solution, if the World Trade Organization (WTO) doesn’t deem it <a href="https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en/knowledge/publications/9c5d9ec6/potential-conflicts-between-the-european-cbam-and-the-wto-rules">against free trade rules</a>. It recently launched a taskforce to review the CBAM after some WTO members called it “<a href="https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/wto-launching-global-carbon-price-task-force-okonjo-iweala-2023-10-17/">protectionist</a>”. </p>
<p>But while everyone waits for “unicorn” climate solutions to be implemented, major oil companies continue to profit and generate more emissions. For real change to happen, fossil fuel companies need to be encouraged to transition to cleaner energy using incentives, as well as stronger limits on fossil fuel extraction – an issue set to be <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/08/talks-at-cop28-set-to-intensify-in-bid-to-break-impasse-over-fossil-fuels">top of the agenda</a> during the last days of COP28.</p>
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<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alain Naef does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Many oil and gas companies support a tax on carbon, even though they are significant emitters.Alain Naef, Assistant Professor, Economics, ESSEC Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2141322023-10-11T20:44:08Z2023-10-11T20:44:08ZHow oil companies put the responsibility for climate change on consumers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549664/original/file-20230914-4201-zir9fo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C1000%2C667&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Aerial view of an oil sands operation in Alberta.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The political response to the climate crisis remains largely inadequate in the face of heat waves, hurricanes, floods and <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/climate/quebec-climate-change-wildfires-research-1.6943502">forest fires</a> that are accelerating and <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/effects/">intensifying</a>. </p>
<p>The political inertia can be explained, among other things, by the stranglehold of fossil fuel interests on political decision-makers, and the strong influence polluting industries have on the spheres of power in North America. </p>
<p>These industries use two types of discourse to secure their interests. First, they discredit and marginalize ecological issues. Just think, for example, of the actions taken by oil and gas companies against climate policies, such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/20/gas-industry-waging-war-against-climate-action">in Seattle, Wash.</a>, where they hired lobbyists to torpedo pro-environmental policies adopted by the city, and simultaneously paid Instagram influencers to promote gas. </p>
<p>Secondly, industry acts to convince people that their polluting activities are compatible with managing the climate and environmental crises. These rebranding strategies are part of a wider objective of “greenwashing” extractive activities. Over the past three decades, the five biggest U.S. oil companies have spent <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/jan/08/oil-companies-climate-crisis-pr-spending#:%7E:text=Over%20roughly%20the%20last%20three,money%20groups%20and%20campaign%20donations.">more than US$3 billion</a> on marketing and donations to boost their communications with the general public and political decision-makers. </p>
<h2>Making citizens responsible for curbing the climate crisis</h2>
<p>One particularly significant rhetorical strategy the oil industry has adopted is to place responsibility for climate change mitigation and adaptation on the individual.</p>
<p>By putting the burden of reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions — and consequently the fight against climate change — on individuals, oil companies and their political allies are taking the onus off themselves to make changes to their fossil fuel production, consumption and exploitation practices.</p>
<p>As a doctoral student in political science and a specialist in climate change adaptation, I have examined the interests, ideas and institutions that shape and restrict our adaptation practices. For the past three years, I have been analyzing environmental discourses in Louisiana to explain why climate policies are moving so slowly.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="View of an oil refinery, with mountains in the background" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548420/original/file-20230914-22774-qv076i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548420/original/file-20230914-22774-qv076i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548420/original/file-20230914-22774-qv076i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548420/original/file-20230914-22774-qv076i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548420/original/file-20230914-22774-qv076i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548420/original/file-20230914-22774-qv076i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548420/original/file-20230914-22774-qv076i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=500&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An oil refinery in Burnaby, B.C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The carbon footprint as a symbol of industry marketing</h2>
<p>The most obvious expression of this strategy of placing responsibility on the individual is the creation of the carbon footprint. Born of a <a href="https://mashable.com/feature/carbon-footprint-pr-campaign-sham">communications strategy by the giant British Petroleum</a> in the early 2000s called “Beyond Petroleum,” the carbon footprint measures the impact of individual consumption on greenhouse gas emissions. </p>
<p>Through <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/18/the-forgotten-oil-ads-that-told-us-climate-change-was-nothing">numerous advertisements</a> promoting the importance of individual action in the climate crisis, BP has succeeded in shifting responsibility for the climate problem onto the consumer. This, in turn, removes the industry’s responsibility for finding solutions and reducing carbon emissions. </p>
<p>BP’s “Beyond Petroleum” campaign was also designed to encourage individuals to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle while maintaining their consumption levels. This strategy contributes to what researchers Karl Smerecnik and Valerie Renegar of San Diego State University and Southwestern University call <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17524031003760879">capitalistic agency</a>. </p>
<p>By endorsing the environmentalist image and removing themselves as the source of the problem, oil giants limit people’s ability to think about other forms of environmental action beyond consumption, and thus, economic growth. It confines the individual and his or her responsibility towards climate change within the logic of the market, reducing the possibilities for systemic transformation. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="gas station, with parked cars" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548421/original/file-20230914-29-77m7k1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548421/original/file-20230914-29-77m7k1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548421/original/file-20230914-29-77m7k1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548421/original/file-20230914-29-77m7k1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548421/original/file-20230914-29-77m7k1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548421/original/file-20230914-29-77m7k1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548421/original/file-20230914-29-77m7k1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=444&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A gas station of the multinational British Petroleum (BP), in Cordoba, Greece.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590332221002335">ExxonMobil and Total also engage in the same strategies</a>. They emphasize greenhouse gas emissions as a problem of demand, not supply, creating an imaginary concept around <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/23/big-oil-coined-carbon-footprints-to-blame-us-for-their-greed-keep-them-on-the-hook">the individual as a consumer</a> and the sole stakeholder responsible for mitigating climate change. </p>
<p>This communication strategy legitimizes the continued production of fossil fuels and serves to protect the industry from restrictive environmental regulations by pointing the finger at growing demand.</p>
<h2>Louisiana’s “green” and community-based oil industry</h2>
<p>My doctoral research on the political discourses and practices of adaptation in Louisiana shows that fossil fuel industries rely on this rhetorical and marketing logic. “Greenwashing” enables them to turn their role on its head and present themselves as genuine environmental saviours by investing in coastal restoration and promoting an eco-responsible, community-based industry.</p>
<p>Lobbyists for major oil companies like ExxonMobil and advocacy groups like the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, as well as their political partners in the Louisiana Senate and House of Representatives, insist on the “green” nature of fossil fuels. </p>
<p>This rhetoric conveys the idea that preserving extractive activities is a benefit for the United States and for the fight against climate change. According to this line of reasoning, American oil and gas have a better carbon footprint than oil and gas produced internationally. They, therefore, help reduce global emissions in the face of growing consumer demand. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/01/17/ohio-natural-gas-green-energy/">“green” fossil fuel narrative</a> is also gaining momentum in the legislative spheres of other states, ensuring the stranglehold of these industries on local economies. </p>
<p>Referring to the ecological activities of oil companies in Louisiana as a true “Cajun environmental movement,” lobbyists solicit local identities and citizen support in an effort to preserve their operating activities. This other form of individualization targets climate policies, particularly those of the Biden administration, as a direct attack on the interests and well-being of local populations. </p>
<p>A veritable “oil culture” has thus emerged through community investment (for example, Shell’s long-standing funding of the Jazz and Heritage Festival in New Orleans, or of local hurricane recovery operations). It also highlights the entanglement of Cajun identities with the historical development of the local oil industry. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548419/original/file-20230914-19-rfrjml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/548419/original/file-20230914-19-rfrjml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548419/original/file-20230914-19-rfrjml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548419/original/file-20230914-19-rfrjml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548419/original/file-20230914-19-rfrjml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548419/original/file-20230914-19-rfrjml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/548419/original/file-20230914-19-rfrjml.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hip-hop singer Big Freedia performs at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival 2023, April 28, 2023. Shell has been funding the festival for years.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Using individual responsibility to reinforce political inertia</h2>
<p>In Louisiana in particular, individualization can be seen in the popular support for extractive activities and the rejection of restrictive regulations or environmental movements. Positioned as true environmental and community protectors, oil and gas industries maintain their influence in legislative spheres through political lobbying and the support of public opinion. In this way, they manage to stave off any reconsideration of their operating practices.</p>
<p>Large-scale individualization, whether through BP’s campaigns or <a href="https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/france-to-plant-1bn-trees-by-2030/">French President Emmanuel Macron’s</a> appeal to schoolchildren to plant trees, reverses responsibility for the fight against climate change. It encourages the political inertia that continues to protect the interests of polluting industries.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214132/count.gif" alt="La Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah M. Munoz has received funding from the Montreal Centre for International Studies, the Centre for the Study of Democraric Citizenship, the Collectif de recherche Action Politique et Démocratie and Mitacs.</span></em></p>By making individuals responsible for reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, the oil industry is deflecting responsibility for making profound changes in their production practices.Sarah M. Munoz, Doctoral researcher in political science / Doctorante en science politique, Université de MontréalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2141252023-09-26T15:00:50Z2023-09-26T15:00:50ZFossil fuel workers have the skills to succeed in green jobs, but location is a major barrier to a just transition<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549816/original/file-20230922-28-33hz0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=67%2C16%2C5599%2C3687&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Renewable energy jobs often aren't close to fossil fuel workers' homes.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/portrait-of-a-wind-turbine-engineer-royalty-free-image/1433295579">Prapass Pulsub/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the U.S. shifts away from fossil fuels to cleaner energy sources, thousands of coal, oil and gas workers will be looking for new jobs. </p>
<p>Many will have the skills to step into new jobs in the emerging clean energy industries, but the transition may not be <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/02/15/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-advances-cleaner-industrial-sector-to-reduce-emissions-and-reinvigorate-american-manufacturing/">as simple as it seems</a>. New research published in the journal Nature Communications <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41133-9">identifies a major barrier</a> that is often overlooked in discussions of how to create a <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/02/15/fact-sheet-biden-harris-administration-advances-cleaner-industrial-sector-to-reduce-emissions-and-reinvigorate-american-manufacturing/">just transition</a> for these workers: location.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HZcCKu8AAAAJ&hl=en">We</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pia9kOsAAAAJ&hl=en">analyzed</a> 14 years of fossil fuel employment and skills data and found that, while many fossil fuel workers <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41133-9">could transfer their skills to green jobs</a>, they historically have not relocated far when they changed jobs.</p>
<p>That suggests that it’s not enough to create green industry jobs. The jobs will have to be where the workers are, and most fossil fuel extraction workers are not in regions where green jobs are expected to grow. </p>
<p>Without careful planning and targeted policies, we estimate that <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41133-9">only about 2%</a> of fossil fuel workers involved in extraction are likely to transition to green jobs this decade. Fortunately, there are ways to help smooth the transition.</p>
<h2>Many fossil fuel and green skills overlap</h2>
<p>As of 2019, <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/2021.02.22_BrookingsMetro_FossilFuel-MethodologyAppendix.pdf">about 1.7 million people</a> worked in jobs across the fossil fuels industry in the U.S., many of them in the regions from Texas and New Mexico to Montana and from Kentucky to Pennsylvania. As the country transitions from fossil fuel use to clean energy to protect the climate, <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-the-coal-industry-shrinks-miners-deserve-a-just-transition-heres-what-it-should-include-116340">many of those jobs will disappear</a>.</p>
<p>Policymakers tend to focus on skills training when they talk about the <a href="https://www.oecd.org/environment/cc/g20-climate/collapsecontents/Just-Transition-Centre-report-just-transition.pdf">importance of a just transition</a> for these workers and their communities.</p>
<p>To see how fossil fuel workers’ skills might transfer to green jobs, we used <a href="https://www.dol.gov/agencies/eta/onet">occupation and skills data</a> from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to compare them. These profiles provide information about the required workplace skills for over 750 occupations, including earth drillers, underground mining machine operators and other extraction occupations.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Workers in hard hats reach for pipes in a tall stand of pipes at a finishing well in Oklahoma." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549818/original/file-20230922-27-2sqfti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549818/original/file-20230922-27-2sqfti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549818/original/file-20230922-27-2sqfti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549818/original/file-20230922-27-2sqfti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549818/original/file-20230922-27-2sqfti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549818/original/file-20230922-27-2sqfti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549818/original/file-20230922-27-2sqfti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=433&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fossil fuel extraction jobs and renewable energy jobs are often hands-on.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-oil-well-worker-pumps-pipes-from-a-finishing-well-news-photo/509077802">J Pat Carter/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Overall, we found that many fossil fuel workers involved in extraction already have similar skills to those required in green occupations, <a href="https://institute.smartprosperity.ca/sites/default/files/transitionforfossilfuelworkers.pdf">as previous studies also found</a>. In fact, their skills tend to be more closely matched to green industries than most other industries.</p>
<p><a href="https://j2jexplorer.ces.census.gov/">Job-to-job flow data</a> from the U.S. Census Bureau showed that these workers historically tend to transition to other sectors with similar skills requirements. Thus, fossil fuel workers should be able to fill emerging green jobs with only minimal reskilling. </p>
<p>However, the data also shows that these fossil fuel workers <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41133-9">typically do not travel far</a> to fill employment opportunities.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A worker stands in the nacelle of a wind turbine far above the ground." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549723/original/file-20230922-19-rocz7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/549723/original/file-20230922-19-rocz7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549723/original/file-20230922-19-rocz7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549723/original/file-20230922-19-rocz7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549723/original/file-20230922-19-rocz7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549723/original/file-20230922-19-rocz7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/549723/original/file-20230922-19-rocz7p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A technician makes adjustments to a wind turbine in Colorado.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/iip-photo-archive/23095737515">Dennis Schroeder/NREL</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The location problem</h2>
<p>When we mapped the <a href="https://sites.pitt.edu/%7Emrfrank/justTransitionDemo/">current locations</a> of wind, solar, hydro and geothermal power plants using data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration, we found that these sites had little overlap with fossil fuel workers.</p>
<p>The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ projections for where green jobs are <a href="https://www.bls.gov/emp/">likely to emerge by 2029</a> also showed little overlap with the locations of today’s fossil fuel workers.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550422/original/file-20230926-27-tzz4j9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="The map shows pockets across the U.S., such as California, the Upper Midwest and the Northeast" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550422/original/file-20230926-27-tzz4j9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/550422/original/file-20230926-27-tzz4j9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550422/original/file-20230926-27-tzz4j9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550422/original/file-20230926-27-tzz4j9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=319&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550422/original/file-20230926-27-tzz4j9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550422/original/file-20230926-27-tzz4j9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/550422/original/file-20230926-27-tzz4j9.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Where green jobs linked to solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower production can be found.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://sites.pitt.edu/~mrfrank/justTransitionDemo/">Morgan Frank/University of Pittsburgh</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These results were consistent across several green employment projections and different definitions of “fossil fuel” occupations. That’s alarming for the prospects of a just transition. </p>
<h2>How policymakers can intervene</h2>
<p>Broadly, our findings point to two potential strategies for policymakers.</p>
<p>First, policymakers can explore incentives and programs that help fossil fuel workers relocate. However, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41133-9">as our analysis</a> reveals, these populations have not historically exhibited geographic mobility.</p>
<p>Alternatively, policymakers could design incentives for green industry employers to build in fossil fuel communities. This might not be so simple. Green energy production often depends on where the <a href="https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/wind/where-wind-power-is-harnessed.php">wind blows strongest</a>, <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/gis/solar-resource-maps.html">solar power production is most effective</a> and <a href="https://www.nrel.gov/gis/geothermal.html">geothermal</a> power or hydropower is available.</p>
<p>We simulated the creation of new green industry employment in two different ways, one targeting fossil fuel communities and the other spread uniformly across the U.S. according to population. The targeted efforts led to significantly more transitions from fossil fuel to green jobs. For example, we found that creating 1 million location-targeted jobs produced more transitions than the creation of 5 million jobs that don’t take workers’ locations into account.</p>
<p>Another solution doesn’t involve green jobs at all. A similar analysis in our study of other existing U.S. sectors revealed that construction and manufacturing employment are already co-located with fossil fuel workers and would require only limited reskilling. Supporting manufacturing expansion in these areas could be a simpler solution that could limit the number of new employers needed to support a just transition.</p>
<p>There are other questions <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2023/07/21/biden-green-jobs-unions-labor/">that worry fossil fuel workers</a>, such as whether new jobs will pay as well and last beyond construction. More research is needed to assess effective policy interventions, but overall our study highlights the need for a comprehensive approach to a just transition that takes into account the unique challenges faced by fossil fuel workers in different regions. </p>
<p>By responding to these barriers, the U.S. can help ensure that the transition to a green economy is not only environmentally sustainable but also socially just.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/214125/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Morgan R. Frank receives funding from Russell Sage Foundation and the Heinz Endowment.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Junghyun Lim received funding from Russell Sage Foundation and the Heinz Endowment.</span></em></p>In a greener future, what becomes of current fossil fuel workers? Despite possessing skills applicable to green industries, their geographical locations will limit their opportunities.Morgan R. Frank, Assistant Professor of Informatics, University of PittsburghJunghyun Lim, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2116092023-08-18T03:16:12Z2023-08-18T03:16:12ZNearly two-thirds of the top fossil fuel producers in Australia and the world aren’t on track for 1.5°C climate target<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543144/original/file-20230817-17-kl576x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=827%2C0%2C4480%2C2984&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Rapid reductions in fossil fuel production and use are essential to limit global warming to 1.5°C compared to pre-industrial levels. Our new <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01734-0">research</a> shows most of the world’s major coal, oil and gas companies are yet to make meaningful reductions. </p>
<p>Some companies have been quick to announce net-zero targets or other claims of alignment with the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement">Paris Agreement</a>. But how do their actions compare to what must be done to achieve the agreed goal of keeping the temperature increase below 1.5°C? </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.inet.ox.ac.uk/files/RekkerEtAl_NCC2022_RnR2_All.pdf">research</a> developed a method to track whether production by individual fossil fuel companies is aligned with putting the world on a 1.5°C climate pathway. We use production budgets as these can be compared directly with fossil fuel demand scenarios and avoid the need for complex emissions calculations. </p>
<p>More than 60% of the top 142 oil, gas and coal companies – including three of the five Australian companies assessed – were not on track. Rio Tinto and BHP were the two Australian companies found to be on track. Between 2014 and 2020, the fossil fuel sectors exceeded overall production budgets by 64% (oil), 63% (gas) and 70% (coal). </p>
<p>These budgets are the levels of production needed to limit warming to 1.5°C under the Paris Agreement “<a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-how-shared-socioeconomic-pathways-explore-future-climate-change/">middle-of-the-road scenario</a>” (where trends broadly follow their historical patterns).</p>
<p>We need freely available information to understand the impact companies are having on the climate and to hold them accountable. Our results are on the website <a href="https://www.areyoupariscompliant.com">Are you Paris compliant?</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Trucks carry loads of coal at a mine" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543145/original/file-20230817-21-7snpd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543145/original/file-20230817-21-7snpd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543145/original/file-20230817-21-7snpd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543145/original/file-20230817-21-7snpd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543145/original/file-20230817-21-7snpd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543145/original/file-20230817-21-7snpd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543145/original/file-20230817-21-7snpd3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coal producers were 70% over the production budget needed to stay on track for no more than 1.5°C warming.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/it-can-be-done-it-must-be-done-ipcc-delivers-definitive-report-on-climate-change-and-where-to-now-201763">'It can be done. It must be done': IPCC delivers definitive report on climate change, and where to now</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How can we track companies’ actions?</h2>
<p>In an earlier <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31143-4">research paper</a>, we laid the foundation of what Paris compliance means using a strict science-based approach. We developed several conditions. </p>
<p>Firstly, the base year of measuring progress of an entity should be the same as the starting year of the decarbonisation scenario being used. While there are many such scenarios, the pathway has to be consistent with a 1.5°C or “well below” 2°C warming limit as stated in the Paris Agreement.</p>
<p>To prevent constant delay of action, only pathways starting in or before 2015 should be used. That’s when the world’s nations committed to decarbonisation under the Paris Agreement. For example, if a company wants to track its alignment with a well-below 2°C pathway starting in 2014, it should start tracking from 2014. </p>
<p>Also, companies should make up for action deficits since the base year to stay within their budgets. </p>
<p>Commonly used frameworks such as the Science Based Targets initiative (<a href="https://sciencebasedtargets.org/about-us">SBTi</a>) and the London School of Economics’ Transition Pathway Initiative (<a href="https://www.transitionpathwayinitiative.org/">TPI</a>) don’t comply with these conditions. The not-for-profit SBTi is the primary point of call for companies wanting to develop emission reduction targets. It’s a partnership between <a href="https://www.cdp.net/en/info/about-us">CDP</a> (which runs the global system of environmental impact disclosures), <a href="https://unglobalcompact.org/">UN Global Compact</a>, <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/">World Wildlife Fund</a> and <a href="https://www.wri.org/">World Resources Institute</a>.</p>
<p>We have now applied our more rigorous approach to fossil fuel companies. Using publicly available production data from the <a href="https://climateaccountability.org/">Climate Accountability Institute</a> allows us to assess a large number of companies. </p>
<p>We evaluated the 142 largest producers of coal, oil and gas against four possible emissions “<a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-how-shared-socioeconomic-pathways-explore-future-climate-change/">pathways</a>” to limit temperature increase to 1.5°C this century. We used three pathways set by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 2014 and the International Energy Agency’s <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/global-energy-and-climate-model/net-zero-emissions-by-2050-scenario-nze">Net Zero Emissions</a> pathway from 2020. Each pathway involves different scenarios of climate actions, emissions and carbon capture and storage.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="a gas fractionation plant" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543149/original/file-20230817-29-1dr1ti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543149/original/file-20230817-29-1dr1ti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543149/original/file-20230817-29-1dr1ti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543149/original/file-20230817-29-1dr1ti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543149/original/file-20230817-29-1dr1ti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543149/original/file-20230817-29-1dr1ti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543149/original/file-20230817-29-1dr1ti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Gas producers exceeded their production budget by 63% from 2014 to 2020.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-ditch-90-of-worlds-coal-and-60-of-oil-and-gas-to-limit-warming-to-1-5-c-experts-167494">Climate change: ditch 90% of world's coal and 60% of oil and gas to limit warming to 1.5°C – experts</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Off course, with much more to do</h2>
<p>Not only did we find the majority of these companies are not currently aligned, but the outlook is also troubling. If recent trends (2010-2018) continue, the companies would produce up to 68% (coal), 42% (oil) and 53% (gas) more than their cumulative production budgets by 2050.</p>
<p>In Australia, the three companies not on track were Whitehaven Coal, Santos and Woodside. They exceeded their production budgets by 232% (Whitehaven coal), 28% (Santos oil) and 33% (Santos gas), and 39% (Woodside gas, on track for oil).</p>
<p>BHP was on track because it has reduced its coal, oil and gas production <em>more</em> than required between 2014 and 2020 under the middle-of-the-road 1.5°C scenario. It used 87% (coal), 85% (oil) and 92% (gas) of its production budgets. Rio Tinto entirely stopped its production of coal in 2018. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/we-pay-billions-to-subsidise-australias-fossil-fuel-industry-this-makes-absolutely-no-economic-sense-189866">We pay billions to subsidise Australia’s fossil fuel industry. This makes absolutely no economic sense</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>While we project future production using historical (2010-2018) growth, a next step would be to assess how current production plans align with 1.5°C pathways. </p>
<p>Companies can use our method to see how much they need to reduce production to be aligned. They can also see how much carbon capture and storage is required under a certain 1.5°C pathway. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Sun sets behind an oil production platform and pipeline" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543365/original/file-20230818-8328-u3g6ft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/543365/original/file-20230818-8328-u3g6ft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543365/original/file-20230818-8328-u3g6ft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543365/original/file-20230818-8328-u3g6ft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=382&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543365/original/file-20230818-8328-u3g6ft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543365/original/file-20230818-8328-u3g6ft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/543365/original/file-20230818-8328-u3g6ft.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Oil producers were 64% over their collective production budget for keeping global warming to 1.5°C.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-oil-industry-has-succumbed-to-a-dangerous-new-climate-denialism-210726">The oil industry has succumbed to a dangerous new climate denialism</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Tracking enables accountability</h2>
<p>For companies to claim Paris alignment, they must be accountable for achieving the required levels of mitigation (reducing production and carbon capture and storage) under a particular 1.5°C pathway. </p>
<p>Our method provides a foundation to drive this change. It offers a relatively simple way to measure corporate actions against the reductions required.</p>
<p>Our work aids the development of standards, regulation and guidance on what Paris alignment actually means. The Science Based Targets initiative has yet to finalise a method for the oil and gas sector. It has no method for coal. </p>
<p>Our method provides a process that can fill this void. In addition to tracking individual companies’ compliance with the Paris Agreement, we require clarity on their intentions beyond just setting targets. The International Sustainability Standards Board (<a href="https://www.ifrs.org/groups/international-sustainability-standards-board/">ISSB</a>) will play a vital role by requiring detailed climate transition plans from companies in countries that adopt its standards. </p>
<p>Tracking how companies are performing empowers all stakeholders – including governments, investors and individuals like you and me – to advocate for climate action and make climate-safe decisions. For example, investors can use this information to decide which companies to invest in and advocate for change where required. Governments can integrate this information into corporate guidelines for climate action. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article mistakenly referred to Whitehaven coal as Woodside coal. This has been corrected.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211609/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Saphira Rekker is affiliated with the Science Based Targets initiative Technical Working Group (Oil & Gas), the Science Based Targets Scientific Advisory Group and the Australian Sustainable Finance Institute Taxonomy Technical Expert Group. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Belinda Wade has a paid position and is an owner/shareholder in the consulting firm Aurecon. She has received internal UQ strategic funding to support research on decarbonisation and has had other grants associated with research projects e.g. Future Fuels CRC and Rural Economies Centre of Excellence.</span></em></p>The 142 fossil fuel producers collectively exceeded the limits on coal, gas and oil production required to achieve the Paris Agreement goals by between 63% and 70%.Saphira Rekker, Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Finance, The University of QueenslandBelinda Wade, Adjunct Associate Professor, School of Business, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2084562023-06-27T20:06:06Z2023-06-27T20:06:06ZAustralia has introduced a new bill that will allow us to ship carbon emissions overseas. Here’s why that’s not a great idea<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534243/original/file-20230627-27-vhcnqc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C31%2C6928%2C4594&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/co2-tanker-froya-passes-on-august-2234680029">MartinLueke, Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fossil fuel companies in Australia could ship their carbon dioxide (CO₂) waste overseas for disposal, under changes to the Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Act 1981 <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r7052">introduced to parliament</a> late last week. </p>
<p>During her <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2F26709%2F0011%22">second reading</a> speech, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Companies would be able to better plan for transboundary projects for carbon capture and storage into sub-seabed geological formations within a clear regulatory framework. Until then, this export activity is not permitted under the sea dumping act.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=LEGISLATION;id=legislation%2Fbills%2Fr7052_first-reps%2F0001;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fbills%2Fr7052_first-reps%2F0000%22;rec=0">Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Amendment (Using New Technologies to Fight Climate Change) Bill 2023</a> will allow export of CO₂ for the purpose of “sequestration”, or storage under the sea. Companies, or research organisations, would need to first apply for an export permit. </p>
<p>The main difficulty with this plan is that offshore
<a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/energy/resources/carbon-capture-and-storage-ccs">carbon capture and storage</a> has not worked effectively in Australian waters. </p>
<p>If a permit is given for CO₂ waste to be exported to poorer countries, it’s unclear how these countries will acquire the capacity and knowledge to achieve successful carbon storage when wealthy fossil fuel companies operating in Australia could not. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/relying-on-carbon-capture-to-solve-the-climate-crisis-risks-pushing-our-problems-into-the-next-generations-path-175269">Relying on carbon capture to solve the climate crisis risks pushing our problems into the next generation's path</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>No lack of storage capacity here</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fems%2Fr7052_ems_b204759e-31bd-4ae4-ba25-f0dbf4bee175%22">stated objective</a> of the amendment is to: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>support countries without storage capacity to reduce their atmospheric emissions by allowing the export of carbon dioxide streams to countries with available sub-seabed geological storage formations. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>But Australia appears to have a great deal of storage capacity, with conservative estimates putting the <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/parliamentary_business/committees/house_of_representatives_committees?url=scin/geosequestration/chapter3.htm#:%7E:text=Conservative%20estimates%20have%20put%20Australia%27s,14%20000%20million%20tonnes%20CO2.">total at 740 billion tonnes</a>. </p>
<p>In 2021, five areas for <a href="https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/energy/province-sedimentary-basin-geology/petroleum/acreagerelease/ghg">Offshore Greenhouse Gas Storage</a> in Commonwealth waters were identified off the coast of Western Australia and the Northern Territory.</p>
<p>The real issue is not lack of storage capacity but rather, the fact offshore CO₂ injection is not working. </p>
<h2>World’s biggest carbon capture and storage flop</h2>
<p>In Australia the only operational offshore carbon capture and storage project is Chevron’s <a href="https://australia.chevron.com/our-businesses/gorgon-project/carbon-capture-and-storage">Gorgon Project</a> on Barrow Island in Western Australia. </p>
<p>Onshore, the Santos Moomba carbon capture and storage project in South Australia will become operational in 2024. Like the Gorgon project, the Moomba project has made bold claims, stating it has capacity to store up to <a href="https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/projects/moomba-carbon-capture-and-storage-ccs-project/">1.7 million tonnes of CO₂ annually</a>. </p>
<p>Chevron built the “<a href="https://australia.chevron.com/our-businesses/gorgon-project/carbon-capture-and-storage">world’s largest</a>” system to extract CO₂ in gas from its offshore reservoirs and inject it deep under the island. The A$81 billion gas export plant was approved on the condition it could store CO₂ in offshore reservoirs and, at a minimum, inject <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jul/16/gas-giant-chevron-falls-further-behind-on-carbon-capture-targets-for-gorgon-gasfield">80% of the CO₂ from the gas produced</a>. </p>
<p>But in the 12 months to June 2022 Chevron <a href="https://australia.chevron.com/-/media/australia/our-businesses/documents/gorgon-gas-development-and-jansz-feed-gas-pipeline-environmental-performance-report-2022.pdf">only injected 1.6 million tonnes</a> of CO₂ into the underground reservoir and vented 3.4 million tonnes to the atmosphere. </p>
<p>In the six years since export of LNG commenced from the Gorgon Project, 20.4 million tonnes of CO₂ has been extracted but only <a href="https://australia.chevron.com/-/media/australia/our-businesses/documents/gorgon-gas-development-and-jansz-feed-gas-pipeline-environmental-performance-report-2022.pdf">6.5 million tonnes</a> has been stored under the island. This significant shortfall adds to global warming and impedes Australia’s ability to reach our legislated 2030 emissions cuts.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-carbon-capture-and-storage-epas-new-power-plant-standards-proposal-gives-it-a-boost-but-ccs-is-not-a-quick-solution-205462">What is carbon capture and storage? EPA’s new power plant standards proposal gives it a boost, but CCS is not a quick solution</a>
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<p>Transferring CO₂ to poorer countries is also bonus for fossil fuel companies like Chevron because from July 1, the reformed <a href="https://www.dcceew.gov.au/climate-change/emissions-reporting/national-greenhouse-energy-reporting-scheme/safeguard-mechanism">safeguard mechanism</a> will make carbon capture and storage failures very expensive. </p>
<p>That’s because the new safeguard mechanism does not allow emission baselines to be <a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/files-au-climate/climate-au/p/prj23cd662ff4387d8c254ae/public_assets/Safeguard%20Mechanism%20Reforms%20Position%20Paper.pdf">as readily adjusted</a> as used to be the case. </p>
<p>Fossil fuel companies will have to begin paying a lot more for emissions that are above their allocated baselines. For example, a report estimates Woodside and its partners will be subject to an additional cumulative liability of up to <a href="https://climateenergyfinance.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/The-impact-of-the-Safeguard-Mechanism-on-Woodsides-Burrup-Hub-project-4.pdf">A$63 billion up to 2050</a> at the Burrup Hub LNG export project under the new safeguard mechanism reforms. Exporting CO₂ from failed carbon capture and storage sites will allow fossil fuel companies to avoid these costs. </p>
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<h2>London calling</h2>
<p>The existing anti-dumping legislation and the proposed change stem from international agreement. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.imo.org/en/OurWork/Environment/Pages/London-Convention-Protocol.aspx">Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter</a>, 1972 (London Convention) was the first international agreement designed to protect the marine environment from sea dumping. </p>
<p>Sea dumping refers to the deliberate disposal of wastes or other matter from vessels, aircraft, platforms or man-made structures into the sea. It does not include material released directly into the sea from a land source or operational discharges from ships. </p>
<p>The London Convention sets up a framework which prohibited sea dumping and which required parties to apply for a special permit for approved materials to be dumped.</p>
<p>The subsequent <a href="https://www.imo.org/en/KnowledgeCentre/ConferencesMeetings/Pages/London-Convention-Protocol.aspx">London Protocol</a> of 2006 took a more restrictive approach. The Protocol prohibited all sea dumping except for identified wastes such as dredged material, sewage sludge, and fish waste. These listed wastes could be dumped if a permit was approved but approval could not be given if it was reasonably likely to cause harm. </p>
<p>Amendments adopted to the London Protocol in 2009 and 2013, yet to be ratified, allowed for the export of CO₂ streams to countries with suitable offshore storage sites, provided an agreement or arrangement has been entered into between the countries concerned. </p>
<p>Australia intends to ratify the 2009 and 2013 amendments, and the amendments to the Sea Dumping Act represent the first stage in this process. The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEW) has indicated Australia will apply a “<a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Climate_Change_Energy_Environment_and_Water/LondonProtocol/Report/Chapter_2_-_The_proposed_amendments">precautionary approach</a>” in the assessment of these permits. </p>
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<h2>Shifting the problem elsewhere</h2>
<p>It’s argued that exporting CO₂ to storage sites overseas will provide significant environmental benefits within a <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/carbon-capture-and-storage-and-the-london-protocol">decarbonising economy</a>. The Australian research and industry collaboration <a href="https://co2crc.com.au/">CO2CRC</a> considers such transboundary exportation “<a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/House/Climate_Change_Energy_Environment_and_Water/LondonProtocol/Report/Chapter_2_-_The_proposed_amendments">safe, reliable, necessary and urgent</a>”. </p>
<p>But this is all premised on the assumption carbon capture and storage is effective and operational. The Australian experience to-date shows it is not. So the only apparent benefit of exporting CO₂ overseas lies in the fact it shifts the problem of escalating emissions out of the country. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/opening-10-new-oil-and-gas-sites-is-a-win-for-fossil-fuel-companies-but-a-staggering-loss-for-the-rest-of-australia-189374">Opening 10 new oil and gas sites is a win for fossil fuel companies – but a staggering loss for the rest of Australia</a>
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<p><em>Correction: this article originally stated Moomba was in the NT.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208456/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samantha Hepburn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Australia wants to allow export of CO₂ for the purpose of “sequestration”, or storage under the sea. Fossil fuel companies, or research organisations, would need to first apply for an export permit.Samantha Hepburn, Professor, Deakin Law School, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2050092023-05-23T12:27:30Z2023-05-23T12:27:30ZMore than two dozen cities and states are suing Big Oil over climate change – they just got a boost from the US Supreme Court<p>Honolulu has lost <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/6801979/Honolulu-Climate-Lawsuit-3-9-2020.pdf">more than 5 miles</a> of its famous beaches to sea level rise and storm surges. Sunny-day flooding during high tides makes many city roads impassable, and water mains for the public drinking water system are corroding from saltwater because of sea level rise.</p>
<p>The damage has left the city and county spending millions of dollars on repairs and infrastructure to try to adapt to the rising risks.</p>
<p>Future costs will almost certainly be higher. More than US$19 billion in property value, at today’s dollars, is at risk by 2100 from projected sea level rise, driven by greenhouse gas emissions largely from the burning of fossil fuels. Elsewhere in Honolulu County, which covers all of Oahu, many coastal communities will be cut off or uninhabitable.</p>
<p>Unwilling to have their taxpayers bear the full brunt of these costs, the <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/6801979/Honolulu-Climate-Lawsuit-3-9-2020.pdf">city and county sued</a> Sunoco LP, Exxon Mobil Corp. and other big oil companies in 2020.</p>
<p>Their case – one of <a href="https://climateintegrity.org/cases">more than two dozen</a> involving <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527655/original/file-20230523-14019-49gxsv.png">U.S. cities, counties and states suing the oil industry</a> over climate change – just got a break from the U.S. Supreme Court. That has significantly increased their odds of succeeding.</p>
<h2>Suing over the cost of climate change</h2>
<p>At stake in all of these cases is who pays for the staggering cost of a changing climate.</p>
<p>Local and state governments that are suing want to hold the major oil companies responsible for the costs of responding to disasters that scientists are increasingly <a href="https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2021/10/04/attribution-science-linking-climate-change-to-extreme-weather/">able to attribute</a> to climate disruption and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/acbce8">tie back to the fossil fuel industry</a>. Several of the plaintiffs accuse the companies of lying to the public about their products’ risks in violation of state or local consumer protection laws that prohibit false advertising.</p>
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<p>The governments in the <a href="https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/6801979/Honolulu-Climate-Lawsuit-3-9-2020.pdf">Honolulu case allege</a> that the oil companies “are directly responsible” for a substantial rise in carbon dioxide emissions that have been driving climate change. They say the companies should contribute their <a href="https://commonwealthmagazine.org/energy/fair-share-for-the-fossil-fuel-industry/">fair share</a> to defray some of the costs.</p>
<p>The gist of Honolulu’s complaint is that the big oil companies <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk0063">have known for decades</a> that their products cause climate change, yet their public statements continued to <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-big-oil-knew-about-climate-change-in-its-own-words-170642">sow doubts</a> about <a href="https://theconversation.com/i-was-an-exxon-funded-climate-scientist-49855">what was known</a>, and they failed to warn their customers, investors and the public about the dangers posed by their products. </p>
<p>Were it not for this deception, the lawsuit says, the city and county would not be facing mounting costs of abating the damage from climate change.</p>
<p>Importantly, the complaint is based on state – not federal – law. It alleges that the defendants have violated established common law rules long recognized by the courts involving nuisance, failure to warn and trespass.</p>
<p>The city and county want the companies to help fund climate adaptation measures – everything from building seawalls and raising buildings to buying flood-prone properties and restoring beaches and dunes.</p>
<h2>Supreme Court could have killed these cases</h2>
<p>Not surprisingly, the oil companies have thrown their vast legal resources into fighting these cases.</p>
<p>On April 24, however, they lost one of their most powerful arguments.</p>
<p>The U.S. Supreme Court <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/orders/courtorders/042423zor_1p24.pdf">declined to hear challenges</a> in the Hawaii case and four others involving the seemingly technical question of which court should hear these cases: state or federal.</p>
<p>The oil companies had “<a href="https://www.bonalaw.com/insights/legal-resources/requirements-for-removing-a-case-from-state-court-to-federal-court">removed</a>” the cases from state court to federal court, <a href="http://climatecasechart.com/case/city-county-of-honolulu-v-sunoco-lp/">arguing that damage lawsuits</a> for climate change go beyond the limits of state law and are governed by federal law. </p>
<p>That theory would have derailed all five cases – because there is no federal common law for greenhouse gases.</p>
<p>The court made that position clear in 2011 in <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/2010/10-174">American Electric Power Co. v. Connecticut</a>. Several state and local governments had sued five major power companies for violating the federal common law of interstate nuisance and asked for a court order forcing these companies to reduce their emissions. The Supreme Court refused, holding that the federal Clean Air Act displaced federal common law for these gases. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/09-17490/09-17490-2012-09-21.html">Native Village of Kivalina v. Exxon Mobil Corp.</a>, a federal court of appeals extended that holding to also bar claims for monetary damages based on federal common law.</p>
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<img alt="Sandbags sit outside a home near a beach in Oahu, Hawaii, where waves have eaten into the shoreline almost up to the house." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527383/original/file-20230521-128284-x96kaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527383/original/file-20230521-128284-x96kaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527383/original/file-20230521-128284-x96kaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527383/original/file-20230521-128284-x96kaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527383/original/file-20230521-128284-x96kaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527383/original/file-20230521-128284-x96kaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527383/original/file-20230521-128284-x96kaz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Several coastal communities, including in Honolulu County, facing increasing erosion want oil companies to help pay for protective infrastructure.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/4c2fc5b90f894fe7963daeb19724bce4?ext=true">AP Photo/Audrey McAvoy</a></span>
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<p>To avoid this fate, Honolulu and the other plaintiffs focused on violations of state law, not federal law. Without exception, the federal courts of appeals sided with them and sent the cases back to state court.</p>
<h2>What happens next?</h2>
<p>The Honolulu case leads the pack at this point.</p>
<p>In 2022, the 1st Circuit Court in Hawaii <a href="http://climatecasechart.com/climate-change-litigation/wp-content/uploads/sites/16/case-documents/2022/20220203_docket-1CCV-20-0000380_ruling.pdf">denied the oil companies’ motion</a> to dismiss the case based on the argument that the Clean Air Act also preempts state common law. This could open the door for discovery to begin sometime this year.</p>
<p>In discovery, senior corporate officers – perhaps including <a href="https://theconversation.com/exxons-rex-tillerson-and-the-rise-of-big-oil-in-american-politics-70260">former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson</a>, who was secretary of state under Donald Trump – will be required to answer questions under oath about what the companies knew about climate change versus what they disclosed to the public.</p>
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<img alt="Rex Tillerson, a smiling older man in a suit and tie, walks out of a courthouse with security guards." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527353/original/file-20230521-106641-dkrcqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/527353/original/file-20230521-106641-dkrcqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527353/original/file-20230521-106641-dkrcqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527353/original/file-20230521-106641-dkrcqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527353/original/file-20230521-106641-dkrcqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527353/original/file-20230521-106641-dkrcqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/527353/original/file-20230521-106641-dkrcqe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">In 2019, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson testified in a securities fraud lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general’s office. The judge ruled in Exxon’s favor.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/ExxonClimateLawsuit/cc7e743167614cb4bf7a4ec99319422f/photo">AP Photo/Seth Wenig</a></span>
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<p>Evidence <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abk0063">from Exxon documents</a>, described in a recent study by science historians Naomi Oreskes and Geoffrey Supran, shows that the company’s own scientists “knew as much as academic and government scientists knew” about climate change going back decades. But instead of communicating what they knew, “Exxon worked to deny it,” Supran and Oreskes write. The company overemphasized uncertainties and cast doubt on climate models.</p>
<p>This is the kind of evidence that could sway a jury. The standard of proof in a civil case like Honolulu’s is “preponderance of the evidence,” which roughly translates to 51%. Ten of the 12 jurors must agree on a verdict.</p>
<p>Any verdict likely would be appealed, perhaps all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, and it could be years before the Honolulu case is resolved.</p>
<h2>Lawsuits don’t begin to cover the damage</h2>
<p>It is unlikely that even substantial verdicts in these cases will come close to covering the full costs of damage from climate change.</p>
<p>According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, <a href="https://www.climate.gov/news-features/blogs/2022-us-billion-dollar-weather-and-climate-disasters-historical-context">in 2022 alone the U.S. sustained</a> 18 weather and climate disasters that each exceeded $1 billion in damage. Together, they cost over $165 billion.</p>
<p>But for many of the communities most at risk from these disasters, every penny counts. We believe establishing the oil companies’ responsibility may also discourage further investments in fossil fuel production by banks and brokerage houses already nervous about the <a href="https://www.ey.com/en_it/banking-capital-markets-risk-regulatory-transformation/climate-change-and-risk-three-key-challenges-facing-banks">financial risks</a> of climate disruption.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205009/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Honolulu, Baltimore, Charleston, S.C. and several other cities harmed by rising seas and extreme weather are suing the oil industry. At stake is who pays for the staggering costs of climate change.Patrick Parenteau, Professor of Law Emeritus, Vermont Law & Graduate SchoolJohn Dernbach, Professor of Law, Widener UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2037372023-05-22T11:34:42Z2023-05-22T11:34:42ZCatch-22: Canada’s attempts to phase out fossil fuel might result in it paying the polluters<p><a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/gnl-quebec-arbitration-1.6786674">US$20 billion</a>: That’s how much American investors think Canadian taxpayers should fork over to compensate them for their failed bid to develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Québec.</p>
<p>That’s almost <a href="https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/quebec-budget-2023-2024-here-are-the-highlights-1.6322761">a fifth of the province’s total budget</a> for this year.</p>
<p>Ruby River Capital LLC, the U.S.-based owner of GNL Québec Inc., filed a <a href="http://icsidfiles.worldbank.org/icsid/ICSIDBLOBS/OnlineAwards/C11097/DS18460_En.pdf">claim</a> against Canada under the <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/trade-commerce/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/nafta-alena/fta-ale/index.aspx?lang=eng">North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)</a> after its <a href="https://iaac-aeic.gc.ca/050/evaluations/proj/80115">Énergie Saguenay</a> project failed to pass a federal environmental impact assessment. </p>
<p>The proposed LNG terminal had already been <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/lng-quebec-saguenay-1.6111248">rejected by the Québec government</a> over concerns that it would increase greenhouse gas emissions and negatively impact First Nations and marine mammals. </p>
<p>Canada faces a no-win situation — a catch-22. If the government does not rapidly phase out fossil fuels, it will fail to meet its commitments under the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement">Paris Agreement</a> to address the climate crisis. But when it takes steps to do so, foreign investors invoke <a href="https://investmentpolicy.unctad.org/international-investment-agreements">international trade and investment agreements</a> like NAFTA and threaten to drain public coffers.</p>
<h2>Paying the polluters</h2>
<p>Unlike environmental treaties, trade and investment agreements have teeth. They are enforceable through a system known as <a href="https://ccsi.columbia.edu/content/primer-international-investment-treaties-and-investor-state-dispute-settlement">Investor-State Dispute Settlement</a> (ISDS) that allows foreign investors to bypass local courts and bring claims for monetary compensation to a panel of three arbitrators. More than <a href="https://investmentpolicy.unctad.org/investment-dispute-settlement">1,200 ISDS</a> cases have been launched against governments around the world in the last 25 years.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/world-bank-ruling-against-pakistan-shows-global-economic-governance-is-broken-120414">World Bank ruling against Pakistan shows global economic governance is broken</a>
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<p>Between 1996 and 2018, <a href="https://policyalternatives.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/publications/National%20Office/2021/04/The_Rise_and_Demise_of_NAFTA_Chapter_11.pdf">Canada was sued more than 40 times</a> by American investors through the investment chapter in NAFTA. To date, Canada has lost or settled (with compensation) 10 claims. Canadian governments have paid out more than $263 million in damages and settlements. </p>
<p>When NAFTA was replaced in 2018 with the <a href="https://can-mex-usa-sec.org/secretariat/agreement-accord-acuerdo/index.aspx?lang=eng">U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA)</a>, it did not include an ISDS mechanism between Canada and the U.S. Chrystia Freeland, the then-deputy prime minister of Canada, noted at the time that the removal of ISDS <a href="https://pm.gc.ca/en/news/speeches/2018/10/01/prime-minister-trudeau-and-minister-freeland-speaking-notes-united-states">“strengthened our government’s right to regulate in the public interest, to protect public health and the environment.”</a></p>
<p>Ruby River was only able to launch its case because USMCA allowed firms that had made investments before NAFTA’s termination — on July 1, 2020, — to continue to bring ISDS claims for three years — until June 30, 2023. </p>
<p>Importantly, Ruby River <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/gnl-quebec-arbitration-1.6786674">spent only about CDN$165 million</a> on the Énergie Saguenay project proposal. However, the firm is permitted within the ISDS system to seek “lost future profits” based on speculation about the performance of notoriously volatile oil and gas markets.</p>
<h2>Risks to climate policy</h2>
<p>Québec is a member of the global <a href="https://beyondoilandgasalliance.org/">Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance</a> and is the <a href="https://www.theenergymix.com/2022/04/13/quebec-becomes-worlds-first-jurisdiction-to-ban-oil-and-gas-exploration/">first jurisdiction in the world</a> to ban all oil and gas production. The province is being <a href="https://financialpost.com/commodities/energy/oil-gas/utica-resources-files-lawsuit-seeking-billions-of-dollars-if-quebec-implements-bill-21">sued</a> over this ban by several fossil fuel firms — seeking more compensation than was <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/quebec-votes-100-million-in-compensation-to-oil-and-gas-companies">offered</a> — in Québec’s Superior Court. </p>
<p>Had these companies been foreign, and thereby qualified for the protection of an investment treaty, they likely would have chosen ISDS instead. This is because ISDS generally provides <a href="https://www.cigionline.org/articles/it-time-redesign-or-terminate-investor-state-arbitration/">broader scope for claims — and larger awards — than domestic courts</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Companies are suing governments for shifting away from fossil fuels. Allowing these companies to demand billions in compensation could dampen necessary policy action.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Other jurisdictions need to follow Québec’s lead. The global carbon budget has no room for new coal, oil or gas developments. Construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure also needs to be limited, as it would lock in continued extraction long into the future.</p>
<p>Despite clear messages to this effect from the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/04/its-over-for-fossil-fuels-ipcc-spells-out-whats-needed-to-avert-climate-disaster">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> and the <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050">International Energy Agency</a>, investors continue to propose new fossil fuel projects. They do so in full knowledge that governments need to act to curb emissions in line with their international commitments and that future climate policies may negatively impact their investments. </p>
<p>Allowing these companies to demand billions in compensation creates <a href="https://www.iisd.org/itn/en/2011/04/07/the-problem-of-moral-hazard/">moral hazard</a> and could dampen necessary policy action.</p>
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<p>
<em>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-secretive-legal-system-lets-fossil-fuel-investors-sue-countries-over-policies-to-keep-oil-and-gas-in-the-ground-podcast-191804">A secretive legal system lets fossil fuel investors sue countries over policies to keep oil and gas in the ground – podcast</a>
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</em>
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<p>Governments are increasingly aware of this risk and many are taking action. The European Union is seeking to withdraw from the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/brussels-says-eu-exit-energy-charter-treaty-unavoidable-2023-02-07/">Energy Charter Treaty</a>, the largest investment treaty in the world, because it “<a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/TA-9-2022-0421_EN.html">is not aligned with the Paris Agreement, the EU Climate Law or the objectives of the European Green Deal</a>.” </p>
<p>The Biden administration is committed to not signing up to new agreements with ISDS and a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/33-democrats-urge-ban-investor-state-dispute-provisions-all-us-trade-deals-2023-05-03/">number of Democrats</a> are calling for the removal of the mechanism from existing deals. Other countries such as <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/aussie-companies-to-lose-right-to-sue-under-free-trade-pacts-20221113-p5bxs1">Australia</a> and <a href="https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-zealand-signs-side-letters-curbing-investor-state-dispute-settlement">New Zealand</a> have worked to exclude ISDS from some of their trade agreements.</p>
<h2>Future threats</h2>
<p>Canada will soon escape from the legacy of NAFTA. However, the government remains exposed to the threat of ISDS through other trade agreements such as the <a href="https://www.international.gc.ca/trade-commerce/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/cptpp-ptpgp/index.aspx?lang=eng">Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)</a>, as well as dozens of bilateral investment treaties. </p>
<p>When the <a href="https://monitormag.ca/articles/u-k-membership-in-pacific-trade-deal-threatens-canadian-climate-action/">U.K. officially joins the CPTPP</a>, the risk of ISDS claims from fossil fuel firms will <a href="https://theecologist.org/2023/apr/12/rough-trade">increase dramatically</a>.</p>
<p>The idea that public finance, desperately needed for the energy transition and climate adaptation, will be redirected to compensate fossil fuel firms currently making <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/shaina-sadai/fossil-fuel-companies-make-billions-in-profit-as-we-suffer-billions-in-losses/">record profits</a> is offensive. </p>
<p>In light of the increasing <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-big-oil-knew-about-climate-change-in-its-own-words-170642">body of evidence</a> that documents how the industry has <a href="https://theconversation.com/big-oils-trade-group-allies-outspent-clean-energy-groups-by-a-whopping-27x-with-billions-in-ads-and-lobbying-to-keep-fossil-fuels-flowing-198286">actively obstructed climate action</a> and helped to spread disinformation about climate science, it is <a href="https://theconversation.com/directors-are-in-the-crosshairs-of-corporate-climate-litigation-117737">communities impacted by climate change</a> that should be compensated by fossil fuel firms, not the other way around. </p>
<p>The Canadian government should adopt a consistent approach to ISDS. The exclusion of ISDS from USMCA should be emulated in any future agreements, and Canada should work with treaty partners to remove access to the system in all current ones.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203737/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kyla Tienhaara receives funding from the Canada Research Chairs Program and SSHRC (Government of Canada). She collaborates with and provides pro bono advice for a number of non-profit organizations working on climate and investment issues.</span></em></p>To address the climate crisis, governments need to limit new fossil fuel developments. But foreign investors are often protected under trade and investment agreements.Kyla Tienhaara, Canada Research Chair in Economy and Environment, Queen's University, OntarioLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1982862023-02-13T13:26:11Z2023-02-13T13:26:11ZBig Oil’s trade group allies outspent clean energy groups by a whopping 27x, with billions in ads and lobbying to keep fossil fuels flowing<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/los-grupos-aliados-de-las-grandes-petroleras-gastaron-miles-de-millones-en-publicidad-y-grupos-de-presion-para-mantener-el-negocio-de-los-combustibles-fosiles-199848">Leer en español</a>.</em></p>
<p>You’ve probably seen ads promoting gas and oil companies <a href="https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-generate-b5679c38-e2cf-40b1-9b9b-cf3e5476a693.html">as the solutions to climate change</a>. They’re meant to be <a href="https://www.ispot.tv/ad/ovGn/exxon-mobil-algae-potential">inspiring and hopeful</a>, with scenes of a green, clean future.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bKfLYRtCGY4">shiny ads</a> are not all these companies do to protect their commercial interests in the face of a rapidly heating world. Most <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-022-03466-0">also provide financial support</a> to industry groups that are spending hundreds of millions of dollars on political activities, often to thwart polices designed to slow climate change.</p>
<p>For example, The New York Times recently reported on the Propane Education and Research Council’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/11/climate/climate-propane-influence-campaign.html">attempts to derail efforts</a> to electrify homes and buildings in New York, in part by committing nearly US$900,000 to the New York Propane Gas Association, which flooded social media with misleading information about energy-efficient heat pumps.</p>
<p>The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers, which represents oil refiners and petrochemical firms, has <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/zahrahirji/edelman-fossil-fuel-pr-climate">spent millions</a> on public relations campaigns, such as promoting a rollback of federal fuel efficiency standards.</p>
<p>These practices have been going on for decades, and evidence shows that industry groups have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ac8ab3">played key roles</a> in <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9780429402074/business-battles-us-energy-sector-christian-downie">blocking state and federal climate policies</a>. This matters not just because of the enormous sums the groups are spending, but also because they often act as a <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Business-Battles-in-the-US-Energy-Sector-Lessons-for-a-Clean-Energy-Transition/Downie/p/book/9781138392717">command center</a> for political campaigns to kill pro-climate policies.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1446189362622996485"}"></div></p>
<p>We study the political activities of industry groups. In a recent <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-022-03466-0">research paper</a>, we dug through U.S. tax filings to follow the money trail of trade associations engaged on climate change issues and track the billions they have spent to shape federal policy.</p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>After NASA scientist James Hansen <a href="https://www.scribd.com/doc/260149292/Transcript-of-pivotal-climate-change-hearing-1988">sounded the alarm on climate change</a> in 1988, three trade associations – the National Association of Manufacturers, the Edison Electric Institute and the American Petroleum Institute – banded together with a couple of electrical utilities to form the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09644016.2022.2058815">Global Climate Coalition</a>, or GCC.</p>
<p>The GCC systematically opposed any international regulation of climate-warming emissions, and successfully prevented the U.S. from ratifying the <a href="https://unfccc.int/kyoto_protocol">Kyoto Protocol</a>, a 1997 international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.</p>
<p>This was the first example of trade associations working together <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/18/the-forgotten-oil-ads-that-told-us-climate-change-was-nothing">to stall government action</a> on climate change. Similar efforts continue today.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1121316135318818817"}"></div></p>
<p>So, how much do trade associations spend on political activities, such as public relations? As not-for-profit organizations under the Internal Revenue Code, trade associations have to report their revenue and spending.</p>
<p>We found that trade associations historically opposed to climate policies <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-022-03466-0">spent $2 billion</a> in the decade from 2008 to 2018 on political activities, such as advertising, lobbying and political contributions. Together, they outspent climate-supporting industry groups 27 to 1. </p>
<p>The oil and gas sector was <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-022-03466-0">the largest</a>, spending $1.3 billion. Across the 89 trade associations we examined in nine different sectors of the U.S. economy between 2008 and 2018, no other group of trade associations came close.</p>
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<h2>No. 1 expense: Advertising and promotion</h2>
<p>What came as more of a surprise as we were tallying up the data was how much trade associations are spending on advertising and promotion. This can include everything from mainstream media ads promoting the industry to hiring public relations firms to target particular issues before Congress.</p>
<p>For example, until they parted ways last year, Edelman, the world’s largest public relations firm, <a href="https://heated.world/p/edelmans-climate-cop-out">received close to $30 million</a> from American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers to promote fossil fuels, reporters at the online news site Heated found.</p>
<p>Our study found that trade associations engaged on climate change issues spent a total of $2.2 billion on advertising and promotion between 2008 and 2018, compared with $729 million on lobbying. As <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/american-petroleum-institute/summary?id=D000031493">2022 lobbying data shows</a>, their <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/american-fuel-petrochem-manufacturers/summary?id=D000027874">spending continues</a>. While not all of this spending is directly targeting climate policy, climate change is one of the <a href="https://influencemap.org/landing/-a794566767a94a5d71052b63a05e825f-20189">top political issues</a> for many industries in the energy sector.</p>
<p>Media buys are expensive, but these numbers also reflect the specific role trade associations play in protecting the reputation of the firms they represent.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Trade groups run promotional ads for their industries, as well as negative ads.</span></figcaption>
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<p>One reason that groups like the American Petroleum Institute have historically taken the lead running negative public relations campaigns is so that their members, such as BP and Shell, are not tarred with the same brush, as <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-022-03466-0">our interviews with industry insiders confirmed</a>. </p>
<p>However, many firms are now coming under pressure to leave trade associations that oppose climate policies. In one example, the oil giant Total <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2021/01/15/french-oil-giant-total-quits-american-petroleum-institute/">quit API in 2021</a>, citing disagreements over climate positions.</p>
<p>Spending on social media in the weeks ahead of the U.S. midterm elections and during the U.N. Climate Conference in November 2022 offers another window into these groups’ operations.</p>
<p><a href="https://caad.info/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/DDD_ExposingClimateDisinfo-COP27.pdf">A review</a> by the advocacy group Climate Action Against Disinformation found that 87 fossil-fuel-linked groups spent roughly $3 million to $4 million on more than 3,700 ads through Facebook’s parent company alone in the 12 weeks before and during the conference. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Facebook received millions of dollars to run ads promoting natural gas.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The largest share came from a public relations group representing the American Petroleum Institute and focused heavily on advocating for natural gas and oil and discussing energy security. America’s Plastic Makers spent about $1.1 million on climate-related advertising during the two weeks of the U.N. conference.</p>
<h2>Funneling money to think tanks and local groups</h2>
<p>Trade associations also spent $394 million on grants to other organizations during the decade we reviewed. For example, they gave money to think tanks, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/31/climate/frank-mitloehner-uc-davis.html">universities</a>, charitable foundations and political organizations like associations of mayors and governors.</p>
<p>While some of these grants may be philanthropic in nature, among the trade associations we spoke to, most have a political purpose in mind. Grants channeled to local community groups, as one example, can help boost an industry’s reputation among key constituent groups, and as a result their social license to operate.</p>
<h2>What this means for climate policy</h2>
<p>Fossil fuel companies, which reported <a href="https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2023/2/8/23587955/exxon-chevron-bp-oil-profits-climate">record profits</a> in 2022, still <a href="https://academic.oup.com/book/9937?login=true">spend more</a> on political activities than their trade associations do.</p>
<p>But industry groups historically opposed to climate policies are also big spenders, as our research shows. They outspent those that support actions to slow climate change, such as the solar and wind industries, by a whopping $2 billion to $74.5 million over the 10 years we reviewed.</p>
<p>This likely <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/60bed54ea75154265d5f3862/t/60bee2b67579be685d2e4715/1623122616896/Downie-2018-Business-and-Politics.pdf">helps to explain</a> why it took Congress almost 35 years after Hansen first warned representatives about the dangers of climate change to pass a major climate bill, the 2022 <a href="https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/5376">Inflation Reduction Act</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198286/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Researchers looked at a decade of political spending by the oil and gas industry and others engaged in climate policy. If money talks, one side had a giant megaphone.Christian Downie, Associate Professor, Australian National UniversityRobert Brulle, Professor of Sociology, Brown UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1949452022-11-23T13:15:35Z2022-11-23T13:15:35ZThe Energy Charter Treaty lets fossil fuel firms sue governments – but its future is now in question<p>European governments are finally starting to abandon a treaty that could stop them taking much-needed climate action and that protects the interests of fossil fuel companies and investors.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.energycharter.org/">energy charter treaty</a> (ECT), which has been signed by <a href="https://www.energycharter.org/process/energy-charter-treaty-1994/energy-charter-treaty/signatories-contracting-parties/">53 European and Asian countries</a>, was drafted to protect energy firms in formerly Soviet countries from falling into state ownership and being subject to excessive regulation. </p>
<p>But the ECT has become outdated. The continued protection of fossil fuel investors – and the suing of governments for millions of euros – contradicts the efforts of European countries to curb their emissions in line with the 2015 <a href="https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/paris-agreement">Paris climate agreement</a>. The legitimacy of the treaty has also come under fire. </p>
<p>European states are therefore exiting the treaty. France <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/oct/21/france-becomes-latest-country-to-leave-controversial-energy-charter-treaty">announced</a> earlier this year that it was to leave. Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovenia and <a href="https://www.politico.eu/article/germany-to-leave-energy-charter-treaty/">Germany</a> have since followed. However, with former members bound by the treaty for 20 years after they leave, it could still hamper future climate action unless it is reformed.</p>
<p>International investment agreements protect and promote the investments made by companies from one state in a foreign territory. There are roughly <a href="https://www.oecd.org/investment/investment-policy/investment-treaties.htm#:%7E:text=Investment%20treaties%20are%20an%20important,investment%20provisions%20of%20trade%20agreements.">2,500</a> such agreements in force today.</p>
<p>Since coming into force in 1998, the ECT has provided the framework for energy cooperation across the European continent by providing the legal basis for open and competitive energy markets. Investors can claim compensation from sovereign states through a mechanism of international law called <a href="https://www.energycharter.org/fileadmin/DocumentsMedia/Legal/ECTC-en.pdf">investor-state dispute settlement</a> if governments breach the investment protections provided by the ECT. </p>
<p>The ECT has allowed energy and fossil fuel investors to receive vast sums of compensation. In 2021, <a href="https://www.iisd.org/itn/en/2022/07/04/tribunal-awards-damages-to-yukos-capital-finding-that-russia-expropriated-its-investment-while-two-arbitrators-partially-dissent-on-quantum/">Russia</a> was ordered to pay US$20.5 million (£17.4 million) in compensation to Yukos Capital, an oil company, for expropriation. </p>
<h2>Legal imbalance</h2>
<p>While investment protection agreements allow investors to sue sovereign states, the reverse is not possible. The investor-state dispute settlement mechanism was designed initially to <a href="https://investmentpolicy.unctad.org/investment-dispute-settlement">protect</a> the foreign investments of western companies from legal changes passed by unstable governments in developing countries. This imbalance of legal rights was thus accepted by western countries.</p>
<p>But as investors can now sue states for violating the terms of the ECT, Europe has increasingly become the target of international investment arbitration. <a href="https://investmentpolicy.unctad.org/investment-dispute-settlement/country/197/spain">Spain</a> has been subject to 45 disputes under the ECT and has paid more than €800 million (£673 million) in claims. </p>
<p>Europe’s divorce from investor-state dispute further intensified following the US$1.9 billion (£1.65 billion) <a href="https://isds.bilaterals.org/vattenfall-vs-germany-i-coal-fired">claim</a> made by Swedish energy firm Vattendal against Germany in 2009 over delays for permits to operate a coal-fired power plant in Hamburg. The claim triggered <a href="https://www.globaljustice.org.uk/resource/case-against-corporate-courts/">public campaigns</a> against the investor-state dispute settlement mechanism. </p>
<p>The European Court of Justice, which ensures that EU law is applied consistently across the EU, have since intervened on two occasions to challenge the compatibility of international investment arbitration with EU law. </p>
<p>Slovakia was ordered to pay €22.1 million (£19.2 million) in compensation to Dutch investor <a href="https://www.iisd.org/itn/en/2018/04/24/achmea-the-beginning-of-the-end-for-isds-in-and-with-europe-laurens-ankersmit/">Achmea</a> in 2018. However, the European Court of Justice found that the arbitral tribunal was “not part of the judicial system” of either country. Three years later, they ruled that an ECT based arbitration brought by Ukrainian electricity supplier <a href="http://arbitrationblog.kluwerarbitration.com/2021/09/07/cjeu-ruling-in-moldova-v-komstroy-the-end-of-intra-eu-investment-arbitration-under-the-energy-charter-treaty-and-a-restrictive-interpretation-of-the-notion-of-protected-investment/">Komstroy</a> against Moldova was contrary to EU law.</p>
<h2>Independent arbitrators?</h2>
<p>Claims made by investors under the ECT are settled via international arbitration. This is where independent experts – called arbitrators – make an official decision that ends a legal dispute without the need for it to be resolved in a national court. </p>
<p>International investment arbitration was initially regarded as an efficient technique for resolving disputes. But in recent years it has been scrutinised. This is particularly true for the ECT where the independence, impartiality and expertise of the arbitrators have been questioned. </p>
<p>Few of the arbitrators who sit in ECT hearings are public international law experts. But as arbitration is frequently used by companies to solve corporate disputes, there is a large pool of arbitrators with a <a href="https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/diaepcbinf2022d5_en.pdf">background in corporate law</a>. This could create <a href="https://uncitral.un.org/en/tribunalselection">bias</a> towards investors in dispute hearings.</p>
<p>Some of the arbitrators also play <a href="https://corporateeurope.org/en/international-trade/2012/11/profiting-injustice">different roles</a> in different cases. Investors have in some cases appointed arbitrators who have acted as legal advisers for them previously. This raises the question of whether arbitrators can separate these roles and act impartially. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two men shaking hands after coming to an agreement. A balanced scale is also on the table." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496559/original/file-20221121-14-n793sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496559/original/file-20221121-14-n793sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496559/original/file-20221121-14-n793sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496559/original/file-20221121-14-n793sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496559/original/file-20221121-14-n793sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496559/original/file-20221121-14-n793sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496559/original/file-20221121-14-n793sh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Disputes are settled in private under the Energy Charter Treaty via international arbitration.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/tribunal-justice-lawyer-hands-shaking-client-1483361603">mojo cp/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Withdrawal symptoms</h2>
<p>Given these controversies, signatories to the ECT have proposed that it undergo <a href="https://www.energychartertreaty.org/modernisation-of-the-treaty/">reform</a>. The reform hinges around several key proposals.</p>
<p>The definition of what classifies as an investment and an investor is to be modified to protect the state against dubious disputes. Fossil fuel investments are to be excluded from legal protection by the Treaty and states are to be allowed to regulate energy firms in the interests of climate and public health policy objectives. Any arbitration within the EU that is deemed incompatible with EU law by the European Court of Justice are also to be discarded.</p>
<p>The proposed reforms have so far failed to convince countries to remain party to the ECT. The <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/STUD/2022/703592/IPOL_STU(2022)703592_EN.pdf">European parliament</a> has also lobbied European countries to leave international investment dispute treaties and create their own system. </p>
<p>But there are legal hurdles that prevent the departure of EU countries from taking immediate effect. The ECT includes a <a href="https://www.energychartertreaty.org/provisions/part-viii-final-provisions/article-47-withdrawal/">“sunset clause”</a> which protects the interests of investors for 20 years following a state’s withdrawal. Should a country withdraw from the ECT in 2022, legal protections for existing and future foreign investments would remain valid and further claims can be made until 2042. </p>
<p>There are many uncertainties surrounding the future of the ECT. Yet it is clear that it requires modernisation. But the rush of withdrawals by the same states that drafted the ECT is indicative of the global shift in power relations. Developing countries are not the only targets of investment disputes and developed states are not the only global rule makers.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leïla Choukroune does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The Energy Charter Treaty allows fossil fuel investors to sue governments over climate action – prompting EU countries to withdraw.Leïla Choukroune, Professor of International Law, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1945592022-11-14T17:31:12Z2022-11-14T17:31:12ZWhy COP27 should be the last of these pointless corporate love-ins<p>It’s a glorious afternoon at a luxury resort in Egypt, with six swimming pools leading to a lovely little stretch of beach on the Red Sea. A salsa aquatic class in one of the pools has several enthusiastic participants. Elsewhere, guests are lounging on deck chairs sipping ice cold cocktails. Cheerful waiters are refilling glasses and serving snacks. </p>
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<p>Welcome to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt’s popular resort and host to the 27th meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, or COP27. Or, as some critics would put it, the <a href="https://www.cadtm.org/Glasgow-s-Conference-of-the-Polluters-again-confirms-that-global-arson-needs">Conference of the Polluters</a>. </p>
<p>My first impression on arriving was that I had entered a gigantic theme park. The roads leading to the resorts were lined with brilliantly lit palm trees in green and yellow, and lamp posts draped in dazzling coloured lights. The night sky was criss-crossed with bright searchlights from the venue to draw attention to the climate emergency facing humanity. </p>
<p>This is my fourth COP, and I don’t intend to come again. Given how little these conferences have achieved since they began in 1995 – not to mention their gigantic carbon footprints – I am convinced it’s time for them to stop. </p>
<p>After 27 years of negotiations, conflicts and breakdowns, the world’s nations have basically agreed: (1) climate change is a serious problem; (2) something must be done to fix it; (3) rich nations should do more; and (4) based on the <a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement">Paris agreement of 2015</a>, every country should set their own emissions goals and do their best to meet them. </p>
<p><a href="https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement#:%7E:text=The%20Paris%20Agreement%20is%20a,compared%20to%20pre%2Dindustrial%20levels.">The UN claims</a> that the Paris agreement is “legally binding”, but there are no enforcement mechanisms or penalties for countries in breach. Even current pledges <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/10/1129912">will not be enough</a> to meet the target to restrict global warming to the 1.5°C target agreed in Paris.</p>
<h2>How COP works</h2>
<p>There are three worlds that inhabit COP meetings but carefully evade each other. Official country delegates attend meetings and draft policies. Then there are the corporates and industry associations, who are by far the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0170840612464609">most significant and powerful</a> presence here. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63571610">Over 600</a> fossil-fuel industry lobbyists are attending. This is more than the combined delegations from the ten most climate-impacted countries, and the second largest delegation after the United Arab Emirates, itself a petroleum power. Among those 600 lobbyists, some have even been invited as part of 30 country delegations. </p>
<p>The third group at COP consists of civil society organisations from a wide range of countries, but dominated by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from developed countries. Growing numbers of NGOs representing the interests of business and industry (BINGOs) occupy the civil society space in COP meetings to promote particular resource and energy use agendas. Funders include major oil corporations like Shell and Exxon, nuclear giants like Areva, and big miners like Rio Tinto and BHP. </p>
<p>Business and civil society delegates both participate in climate negotiations and host side events showcasing their climate actions. These can seem to take place in parallel realities. Directly after one session organised by international NGO Global Witness about the killings and disappearances of protesters against mining projects in Africa, Asia and Latin America was a session on “mining governance for a just energy transition”. </p>
<p>In this latter session participants from the Democratic Republic of Congo government and the <a href="https://www.icmm.com/en-gb/our-story/who-we-are">International Council for Mining and Metals</a> described inequalities, environmental impacts, tax avoidance and corruption as challenges facing mining in Africa. There was no mention of the violence and killings documented in the same region in the previous session. </p>
<h2>The police presence</h2>
<p>These opposing narratives are a feature of COP, but only become visible during protest marches. Notably, however, COP27 is the first to be held in a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/18/greenwashing-police-state-egypt-cop27-masquerade-naomi-klein-climate-crisis">police state</a>”. Before getting to the venue, I spent a few days in Cairo at a hotel near Tahrir Square, home of the 2011 revolution. The square had heavily armed police in armoured vehicles at every corner. I photographed the obelisk in the square with an armoured police vehicle in the foreground and was immediately reprimanded by an angry soldier. </p>
<p>There are remarkably <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/12/cop27-first-week-roundup-powerful-dispatches-muted-protest-little-cash">few police</a> at the venue in Sharm el-Sheikh, however. This is because of the <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/11/06/egypt-arrests-curbs-protests-cop27-nears">extraordinary lengths</a> taken by the organisers to prevent protests. </p>
<p>This has included pre-emptive arrests of local activists, a complicated registration process restricting the wider public to a “green zone”, and unprecedented surveillance including police-monitored cameras in all Sharm el-Sheikh taxis. There is also a “designated area” for protesters away from the venue to avoid the kind of mass protests that have hampered previous COP meetings. </p>
<p>Staging COP in a luxury resort has also priced out activists. Hotel rates average US$250 to US$300 (£213 to £255) a night and there are no “budget” options. A sandwich at the venue cost US$15, though this was halved after complaints. There are also no streets where people can gather, just roads linking the various resorts. </p>
<p>So while over <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/11/cop26-police-tactics-creating-atmosphere-of-fear-protesters-say">100,000 people marched</a> the streets of Glasgow at COP26, and previous COPs like <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2009/dec/12/hundreds-arrested-copenhagen-protest-rally">Copenhagen</a>, <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2011-12-04-cop17-protesters-to-lay-charges-after-march-attack/">Durban</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-34959192">Paris</a> also saw clashes between protesters and police, dissent is effectively neutralised here. <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/11/12/not-yet-defeated-1000-march-climate-justice-cop27">Over 1,000 protesters</a> marched inside the venue on November 12, and I couldn’t even find them. </p>
<h2>COP and petroleum</h2>
<p>So what else has changed since I first came to a COP in Durban in 2011? Notably, the marketing of both corporates and NGOs is much slicker. And corporates have become much smarter – I can’t see a BP or Shell or Exxon-Mobil logo anywhere. The corporatisation of COP is complete when BP’s chief executive and four other senior employees are in the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63584993">official delegation of Mauritania</a>, a country where BP has major investments. </p>
<p>To further consolidate the power of the fossil fuel industry, COP27 has a “Middle East Green Initiative” led by Saudi Arabia with the inevitable net zero pledge by 2050. Saudi also has one of the largest booths inside the conference venue. And it is no accident that the next COP will be hosted by the United Arab Emirates. </p>
<p>In 27 years of COP meetings there has not been a single call to phase out fossil fuels. The only reference was the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/cop26">agreement at COP26</a> which called for “the phasedown of
unabated coal power and phase-out of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/11/gas-producers-using-cop27-to-rebrand-gas-as-transitional-fuel-experts-warn?CMP=share_btn_tw">massive rebranding exercise</a> is underway at COP27 where natural gas is being positioned not as a fossil fuel but as a “transition fuel”. Once this reframing is complete, the major fossil fuel players will corner all subsidies for natural gas.</p>
<h2>COP’s great failure</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/276629/global-co2-emissions/">In 1995</a>, when COP1 was convened in Berlin, global carbon emissions were 23.45 billion metric tons. By 2021 they were 36.4 billion metric tons. Emissions have increased every year with two exceptions: the 2007-09 financial crisis and during COVID-19. In both cases this was because of economic contraction, not efforts to tackle climate change. </p>
<p>No one at COP will speak of this particular elephant in the room: that it <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1350508420973629">may well be impossible</a> to decouple economic growth from carbon emissions. Emissions rebounded on both occasions and are expected to reach their <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/co2-is-on-track-to-hit-a-record-high-in-2022-and-shows-no-signs-of-going-down">highest recorded level</a> in 2022. </p>
<p>Let’s look at three other quantifiable COP measures: climate finance, which is seen as key to helping poor countries <a href="https://unfccc.int/topics/climate-finance/the-big-picture/introduction-to-climate-finance/introduction-to-climate-finance">to reduce emissions</a>; <a href="https://unfccc.int/topics/adaptation-and-resilience/workstreams/approaches-to-address-loss-and-damage-associated-with-climate-change-impacts-in-developing-countries">climate reparations</a> from rich to poor countries for damage caused by <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop27-how-responsible-are-industrialised-countries-for-climate-change-193965">historical carbon emissions</a>; and the success of technologies to mitigate emissions, particularly carbon capture and storage. </p>
<p>On climate finance, wealthier nations committed at Copenhagen 2009 to mobilise <a href="https://unfccc.int/topics/climate-finance/the-big-picture/climate-finance-in-the-negotiations">US$100 billion per year</a> for <a href="https://unfccc.int/topics/climate-finance/the-big-picture/introduction-to-climate-finance/introduction-to-climate-finance">poorer countries</a>. However, they have <a href="https://www.oecd.org/climate-change/finance-usd-100-billion-goal/">never achieved</a> this goal. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, the 60 largest banks in the world <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/24/how-much-the-largest-banks-have-invested-in-fossil-fuel-report.html">have invested US$3.8 trillion</a> in fossil fuels since the Paris agreement. In December 2019 investors paid nearly US$26 billion for Saudi state oil company Aramco’s initial public offering. Of course, both fossil fuel companies and banks involved have pledged fictional net zero commitments for 2050. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/its-the-big-issue-of-cop27-climate-summit-poor-nations-face-a-1trillion-loss-and-damage-bill-but-rich-nations-wont-pay-up-194043">Climate reparations</a> are on the official agenda at COP27 for the first time, which is certainly a <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop27-three-reasons-rich-countries-can-no-longer-ignore-calls-to-pay-developing-world-for-climate-havoc-193873">step forward</a>. It’s hard to be optimistic, however. The US will vigorously challenge creating any loss and damage fund for poor countries, as it has <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/fearing-liability-u-s-resists-u-n-fund-for-climate-damages/">consistently done</a> at past COPs. </p>
<p>As for carbon capture, it <a href="https://reneweconomy.com.au/new-global-ccs-report-shows-up-silliness-of-clean-coal-predictions-in-news-corp-81413/">only stored 0.02%</a> of fossil-fuel CO₂ in 2021. That makes a mockery of this cornerstone of climate change mitigation. </p>
<h2>Alternatives</h2>
<p>COP represents a gathering of elites. A <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-environ-012220-011104">recent study</a> found that this was a major obstacle to climate mitigation. Excluded are the poor, disenfranchised, and those who bear the brunt of climate impacts but contributed least to the problem (and will bear the impact of rich nations’ energy transitions because the necessary minerals and metals will be extracted from their lands). Increasingly dissent is <a href="https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2013/05/14/pers-m14.html">becoming criminalised</a>, not only in “police states” but in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/24/keir-starmer-backs-stiff-sentences-for-climate-protesters-who-block-roads">western liberal democracies too</a>. </p>
<p>It is time to end this spectacle of private jets flying in dignitaries and delegates to discuss the climate emergency. Genuine civil society organisations should boycott future COPs and focus on direct action at national and local levels. They need to make their governments accountable for emissions targets, and target fossil fuel corporations and the banks that finance them. </p>
<p>There is no accountability in COP, only a diffusion of (ir)responsibility that legitimises corporate power. COP27 will go the way of previous COPs: empty promises, stirring speeches and slick corporate campaigns. And higher carbon emissions next year.</p>
<p>So let COP become another Davos, a conference of and for the rich. There are plenty of luxury seaside and ski resorts in countries eager to host the next few COPs. Just don’t go there.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194559/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bobby Banerjee has received funding in the past from the Australian Research Council. He is attending COP27 as a delegate for Western Sydney University, Australia, which is his former employer and still retains him as an adjunct professor. </span></em></p>A look back at what the COPs have actually achieved.Bobby Banerjee, Professor of Management, City, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1927202022-10-26T19:03:59Z2022-10-26T19:03:59ZOut of bounds: how much does greenwashing cost fossil-fuel sponsors of Australian sport?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/491539/original/file-20221025-19-7q31vn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C21%2C4871%2C3215&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>High-profile Australian athletes and supporters across sports such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/oct/18/pat-cummins-says-he-will-not-appear-in-any-more-ads-for-cricket-australia-energy-company-sponsor">cricket</a>, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-10-18/pressure-building-for-diamonds-netball-australia-gina-rinehart/101545110">netball</a> and <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/fremantle-dockers-urged-to-cut-ties-with-major-sponsor-woodside/news-story/bbfd9a4f32018525427430d6958ae3f8">Australian Rules football</a> have recently called for their sports to reconsider their partnerships with fossil fuel or mining companies. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://www.acf.org.au/out-of-bounds">report</a>, released today, is the first research to quantify the number and value of fossil-fuel sponsorships in Australian sport. It reveals coal, gas and oil companies spend A$14 million to A$18 million each year sponsoring 14 high-profile leagues and sports in Australia. </p>
<p>We identified 51 such partnerships. The major fossil-fuel sponsors of sport include companies such as Santos, Alinta, BHP and Woodside.</p>
<p>The money these sponsors spend on sport is at least partly an investment in “greenwashing” their images. Fossil fuel corporations are major sources of the emissions that drive climate change, but through sports sponsorship they leverage the positive image of sport and fan loyalty associated with teams. </p>
<p>The association of these sponsors’ names and logos with popular sports and athletes can <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315619514-24/sustainability-greenwashing-light-green-approach-sport-environmentalism-jay-johnson-adam-ehsan-ali">sanitise the image</a> of fossil fuel companies. When sports embrace high-polluting brands, they help normalise those companies’ contributions to the climate crisis.</p>
<p>But many Australian sport organisations are starting to take action to reduce their carbon footprint. They are also leveraging their media profiles to promote environmentally positive behaviours. As they do so, coal, oil and gas sponsorships and partnerships are coming under increasing public scrutiny. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/should-athletes-just-shut-up-and-play-ball-no-society-is-changing-and-sport-sponsorship-must-too-192959">Should athletes just shut up and play ball? No – society is changing and sport sponsorship must too</a>
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<h2>Why does this matter for sport?</h2>
<p>Sport is part of the Australian cultural identity. Millions of Australians watch and play sport. Hundreds of thousands volunteer every week to do the work needed to bring community sport to life. </p>
<p>Sport is integral to the social fabric of communities. It provides <a href="https://www.sportaus.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/974948/KPMG_Value_of_Community_Sport_Infrastructure_final.pdf">well-documented</a> mental and physical health benefits as well as social benefits for participants. Sport also contributes around <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Game-Set-Match-Calling-Time-on-Climate-Inaction-Climate-Council-Sports-Report-1.pdf">$50 billion a year</a> to the Australian economy.</p>
<p>However, climate change is both an <a href="https://www.climatecouncil.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Game-Set-Match-Calling-Time-on-Climate-Inaction-Climate-Council-Sports-Report-1.pdf">immediate and future threat to sport in Australia</a>.</p>
<p>Increasing heat as a result of climate change is a problem for sport. The viability of iconic sporting events such as cricket’s MCG Boxing Day Test and the Australian Open tennis could be threatened by heatwaves reaching highs of 50°C by 2040. Extreme heat poses a risk for community sport too. </p>
<p>Higher temperatures are also driving longer and more intense bushfire seasons, exposing athletes and spectators to dangerous air pollution.</p>
<p>In this context, accepting sponsorship from coal, gas and oil corporations creates reputational risks for Australian sport. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/in-a-climate-crisis-how-do-we-treat-businesses-that-profit-from-carbon-pollution-188810">In a climate crisis, how do we treat businesses that profit from carbon pollution?</a>
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<h2>Which sports are favoured?</h2>
<p>Our report, <a href="https://www.acf.org.au/outofbounds">Out of bounds: coal, gas and oil sponsorship of Australian sports</a>, was prepared by Swinburne University of Technology’s Sport Innovation Research Group for the Australian Conservation Foundation. We identified 51 partnerships (3.5% of all partnerships) between 14 top-tier sporting organisations and coal, gas and oil companies. We found oil and gas companies tend to sponsor Australian Rules football, rugby union and rugby league, while fossil-fuel energy retailers favour partnerships with cricket, soccer and netball. </p>
<p>While not a small level of investment, we suggest these 14 sports could, over time, replace the $14 million to $18 million they receive each year. </p>
<p>The benefits that associating with sport provides to these corporations would be much more difficult for them to replace. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sportswashing-how-mining-and-energy-companies-sponsor-your-favourite-sports-to-help-clean-up-their-image-173589">Sportswashing: how mining and energy companies sponsor your favourite sports to help clean up their image</a>
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<h2>What can sports do?</h2>
<p>There is a solution to this challenge for the Australian sport industry. Sport organisations have a history of having to move away from corporate sponsors due to growing public concern about their impact on individual and community health and wellbeing. Tobacco, alcohol and gambling are just some industries that have <a href="https://www.clearinghouseforsport.gov.au/kb/tobacco-sponsorship-and-advertising-in-sport#tobacco_sponsorship_and_advertising_in_sport">faced regulation to control their involvement with sport</a> as a promotional platform. </p>
<p>Cricket Australia has already announced it is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/oct/18/pat-cummins-says-he-will-not-appear-in-any-more-ads-for-cricket-australia-energy-company-sponsor">parting ways with Alinta Energy</a> when its nearly <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/cummins-raised-objection-to-cricket-australia-s-alinta-deal-20221017-p5bqei.html">$40 million, five-year sponsorship deal ends</a> in 2023.</p>
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<p>The road away from coal, oil and gas company sponsorship of sport, as well as wider environmental approaches, can be either direct or indirect. Directly, organisations or brands can end or reject coal, oil and gas sponsorship. They can also actively advocate or illustrate sports’ role in a more sustainable future. </p>
<p>Indirectly, sports organisations may “signal an intent” by signing a climate-related agreement or join an environmental association as an institutional member. For some sport organisations these commitments appear at odds with their sponsorship partnerships with oil, coal and gas companies.</p>
<p>Global and national concern about the impacts of climate change on human health and the environment is growing. Sports fans are increasingly likely to question sponsorship arrangements with corporations that extract or sell coal, gas and oil. </p>
<p>Sporting competitions and clubs should actively work to avoid such reputational risks. They need to recognise the influence their brand has on society, especially as it relates to the climate crisis that’s also threatening the viability of sport.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/192720/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emma Sherry consults to many Australian sport and non-profit organisations. She receives funding from the Australian Conservation Foundation. She is affiliated with Sport Inclusion Australia and the Australian Sport Innovation Centre of Excellence. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian P. McCullough receives funding from external governmental agencies and sport organizations to conduct research on sport and the natural environment. He is affiliated with the Center for Sport Management Research and Education, Laboratory for Sustainability in Sport, and the Sport Ecology Group.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Olivia Bramley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sponsorship from fossil-fuel companies is worth millions to Australian sport. But growing opposition from the public and athletes themselves may force sports to rethink these deals.Emma Sherry, Professor and Co-director, Sport Innovation Research Group, Swinburne University of TechnologyBrian P. McCullough, Associate Professor of Sport Management and Director, Center for Sport Management and Education and the Laboratory for Sustainability in Sport, Texas A&M UniversityOlivia Bramley, PhD Candidate, Sport Innovation Research Group, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1897592022-09-21T12:35:58Z2022-09-21T12:35:58ZWhat if carbon border taxes applied to all carbon – fossil fuels, too?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/484426/original/file-20220913-12695-68njn0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C4940%2C3280&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Most national carbon border adjustments being considered target only manufactured goods.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/logistics-and-transportation-of-container-cargo-royalty-free-image/850688224">Thatree Thitivongvaroon via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The European Union is <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20221212IPR64509/deal-reached-on-new-carbon-leakage-instrument-to-raise-global-climate-ambitio">embarking on</a> <a href="https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/R/R47167">an experiment</a> that will expand its climate policies to imports for the first time. It’s called a <a href="https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2022/03/15/carbon-border-adjustment-mechanism-cbam-council-agrees-its-negotiating-mandate/">carbon border adjustment</a>, and it aims to level the playing field for the EU’s domestic producers by taxing energy-intensive imports like steel and cement that are high in greenhouse gas emissions but aren’t already covered by climate policies in their home countries. </p>
<p>If the border adjustment works as planned, it could encourage the spread of climate policies around the world. But <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20221212IPR64509/deal-reached-on-new-carbon-leakage-instrument-to-raise-global-climate-ambition">the EU plan</a> – which members of the European Parliament preliminarily agreed to on Dec. 13, 2022 – as well as most attempts to evaluate the impact of such policies, is missing an important source of cross-border carbon flows: trade in fossil fuels themselves.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/mark-finley">energy</a> <a href="https://www.bakerinstitute.org/expert/joon-ha-kim">analysts</a>, we decided to take a closer look at what including fossil fuels would mean.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/carbon-border-adjustments-need-analyze-all-carbon-trade">newly released paper</a>, we analyzed the impact and found that including fossil fuels in carbon border adjustments would significantly alter the balance of cross-border carbon flows. </p>
<p>For example, China is a major exporter of carbon-intensive manufactured goods, and its industries will face higher costs under the EU border adjustment if China doesn’t set sufficient climate policies for those industries. But when fossil fuels are considered, China becomes a net carbon importer, so setting its own comprehensive border adjustment could be to its energy producers’ benefit.</p>
<p>The U.S., on the other hand, could see harm to its domestic fuel producers if other countries imposed carbon border adjustments on fossil fuels. But the U.S. would still be a net carbon importer, and adding a border adjustment could help its domestic manufacturers.</p>
<h2>What is a carbon border adjustment?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.rff.org/publications/explainers/border-carbon-adjustments-101/">Carbon border adjustments</a> are trade policies designed to avoid “<a href="https://clear.ucdavis.edu/news/what-carbon-leakage">carbon leakage</a>” – the phenomenon in which manufacturers relocate their production to other countries to get around environmental regulations.</p>
<p>The idea is to impose a carbon “tax” on imports that is commensurate with the costs domestic companies face related to a country’s climate policy. The carbon border adjustment is imposed on imports from countries that do not have similar climate policies. In addition, countries can give rebates to exports to ensure domestic manufacturers remain competitive in the global market. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1415590023555133442"}"></div></p>
<p>This is all still in the future. The EU plan <a href="https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20221212IPR64509/deal-reached-on-new-carbon-leakage-instrument-to-raise-global-climate-ambition">phases in starting in 2023</a>. However, other countries are closely watching as they consider their own policies, including some members of the U.S. Congress who are <a href="https://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/news/release/whitehouse-and-colleagues-introduce-clean-competition-act-to-boost-domestic-manufacturers-and-tackle-climate-change">considering carbon border adjustment legislation</a>. </p>
<h2>Capturing all cross-border carbon flows</h2>
<p>One issue is that current discussions of carbon border taxes focus on “embodied” carbon – the carbon associated with the production of a good. For example, the EU proposal covers cement, aluminum, fertilizers, electricity, iron and steel.</p>
<p>But a comprehensive border adjustment, in theory, should seek to address all cross-border carbon flows. All the <a href="https://www.oecd.org/sti/ind/input-outputtables.htm">major analyses</a> to date, however, leave out the carbon content of fossil fuels trade, which we refer to as “explicit” carbon. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/carbon-border-adjustments-need-analyze-all-carbon-trade">our analysis</a>, we show that when only manufactured goods are considered, the U.S. and EU are portrayed as carbon importers because of their “embodied” carbon balance – they import a lot of high-carbon manufactured goods – while China is portrayed as a carbon exporter. That changes when fossil fuels are included.</p>
<h2>The impact of including fossil fuels</h2>
<p>By assessing the impact of a carbon border adjustment based only on embodied carbon flows, those involving manufactured goods, policymakers are missing a significant part of total carbon traded across their borders – in many cases, the largest part.</p>
<p>In the EU, our findings largely reinforce the current motivation behind a carbon border adjustment, since the bloc is an importer of both explicit carbon and embodied carbon.</p>
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<p>For the U.S., however, the results are mixed. A carbon border adjustment could protect domestic manufacturers but harm the international competitiveness of domestic fossil fuels, and at a time when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is placing renewed importance on the U.S. as a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-biden-business-poland-migration-c0c3b6421fc0d454abf53b4b6dd746bb">global energy supplier</a>.</p>
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<p>The Chinese economy, as an exporter of embodied carbon in manufactured goods, would suffer if its trading partners imposed a carbon border adjustment on China’s products. On the other hand, a Chinese domestic border adjustment could benefit Chinese domestic energy producers at the expense of foreign competitors who fail to adopt similar policies.</p>
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<p>Interestingly, <a href="https://www.bakerinstitute.org/research/carbon-border-adjustments-need-analyze-all-carbon-trade">our analysis</a> suggests that, by including explicit carbon flows, the U.S., EU and China are all net importers of carbon. All three key players could be on the same side of the discussion, which could improve the prospects for future climate negotiations – if all parties recognize their common interests. </p>
<p><em>This article was updated Dec. 14, 2022, with the European Parliament’s preliminary approval.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189759/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nothing to disclose.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Finley does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A new study shows what it would mean for Europe and China, and why the US might not be too excited about the idea.Joonha Kim, Graduate fellow, Baker Institute, Rice UniversityMark Finley, Fellow in Energy and Global Oil, Baker Institute for Public Policy, Rice UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1899652022-09-08T20:05:45Z2022-09-08T20:05:45Z3 ways the fossil fuel industry failed women (and how clean energy can learn from its mistakes)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483153/original/file-20220907-18-t8vvsk.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C3%2C2552%2C1697&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://internationalwim.org/photogallery/">Papa Aliou Sylla/IWiM</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A crucial outcome of Australia’s jobs summit last week was the commitment <a href="https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/education/husic-orders-review-of-women-in-stem-20220905-p5bffr">to review</a> programs aimed at boosting the number of women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) careers. </p>
<p>Energy is a particularly <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/stem-equity-monitor/stem-qualified-occupations">male-dominated</a> STEM industry, with clean energy on the brink of massive expansion. However, to ensure the clean energy industry is truly sustainable, it must learn from the mistakes of the mining and fossil fuel industry. </p>
<p>If mining workplaces are anything to go by, the clean energy sector will have their work cut out for them to retain women in the workforce.</p>
<p>It’s easy to understand why women are leaving careers in the fossil fuel sector. For example, a Western Australian <a href="https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Parliament/commit.nsf/(Report+Lookup+by+Com+ID)/EF1DF1A3F5DF74A848258869000E6B32/$file/20220621%20-Report%20No%202.pdf">parliamentary inquiry</a> earlier this year revealed appalling reports of widespread sexual harassment and assault in the state’s fly-in-fly-out mining industry.</p>
<p>As a woman who used to work in and with the mining sector, these findings were no surprise to me. Only by creating workplaces that are inclusive of women and other underrepresented groups will the clean energy sector unlock the economic and innovation benefits of a diverse workforce. </p>
<h2>By the numbers</h2>
<p>At a glance, it seems Australia’s clean energy industry is making great progress.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://assets.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/documents/resources/reports/Empowering-Everyone-Diversity-in-the-Australian-Clean-Energy-Sector.pdf">2021 Clean Energy Council survey</a> found 39% of Australia’s clean energy workforce identify as women. Compare this to 32% of the global renewables sector, 25.9% in <a href="https://data.wgea.gov.au/comparison/?id1=90&id2=240">Australia’s</a> oil and gas sector, and 17.5% in coal mining. </p>
<p>However, the Australian result was based on a voluntary survey of the renewables sector, which people who feel marginalised by their diversity are more likely to opt into. This means the percentage of women in the sector actually may be lower. </p>
<p>The male-dominated renewables construction sector also had low representation in survey responses, further skewing results.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/trailblazing-women-who-broke-into-engineering-in-the-1970s-reflect-on-whats-changed-and-what-hasnt-167502">Trailblazing women who broke into engineering in the 1970s reflect on what's changed – and what hasn't</a>
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<p>If we look at the mining sector overall, <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/census">census data</a> reveals that at junior levels there is a relatively even gender split, with women comprising roughly 40% of 20-27 year olds in the industry. </p>
<p>But this gender split doesn’t persist for long. The proportion of women in mining begins to decrease from age 28, so that in the 56-59 age bracket, women comprise less than 15% of the workforce. The census data also reveal there has been little improvement in these numbers in the last 15 years.</p>
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<p>So why are women leaving the mining industry? There are three main reasons.</p>
<h2>1. Sexual assault and harassment</h2>
<p>The mining industry, including the fossil fuel industry, can be a dangerous place for women. </p>
<p>In early 2022, an <a href="https://www.riotinto.com/-/media/Content/Documents/Sustainability/People/RT-Everyday-respect-report.pdf">external review</a> of Rio Tinto’s workplace culture found bullying, sexism and racism are systemic across the company. </p>
<p>In the last five years, 28% of women had experienced sexual harassment at Rio Tinto worksites, and 21 women were victims of actual or attempted rape or sexual assault.</p>
<p>This finding is consistent with the WA <a href="https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Parliament/commit.nsf/(Report+Lookup+by+Com+ID)/EF1DF1A3F5DF74A848258869000E6B32/$file/20220621%20-Report%20No%202.pdf">parliamentary inquiry</a>, which found sexual harassment is, and has long been, prevalent across the industry. It is fostered by gender inequality, power imbalances and exacerbated by high alcohol consumption.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/antarctic-stations-are-plagued-by-sexual-harassment-its-time-for-things-to-change-189984">Antarctic stations are plagued by sexual harassment – it's time for things to change</a>
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<p>The inquiry’s report highlighted that when women tried to report harassment and assault they were bullied, threatened or lost their jobs. </p>
<p>The parliamentary inquiry made a number of recommendations to improve the safety of women in the FIFO mining industry, such as an overhaul of reporting structures within companies.</p>
<p>So far Rio Tinto is the only major mining company that has announced <a href="https://www.riotinto.com/news/releases/2022/Rio-Tinto-releases-external-review-of-workplace-culture">their plan</a> to overhaul their systems to protect women. There has been no word from governments outside of WA on any action in the face of this damning parliamentary inquiry.</p>
<h2>2. Biases against women</h2>
<p>Women tend to face more obstacles to progression and job satisfaction than men do, because there are systematic biases against them. While a minority belief persists that biases against women simply do not exist, we have <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.159.3810.56">known</a> of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0093650211418339">bias</a> <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1075547012472684">in science</a> <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1018839203698">for a long</a> <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1211286109">time</a>. </p>
<p>In Australia, as in many nations, <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/sites/default/files/4_fathers_and_work_1909_0.pdf">women do more household and caring work</a>, and STEM fields are generally male dominated. Our expectations of the roles of each gender are influenced accordingly, creating <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0093650211418339">implicit bias against women in science</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/its-not-lack-of-confidence-thats-holding-back-women-in-stem-155216">It's not lack of confidence that's holding back women in STEM</a>
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<p>Research shows these biases negatively affect all decisions made about women in a professional context, including <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1211286109">hiring</a>, promotion, <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1029/2003EO310005">awards</a>, the value of their work, and <a href="https://www.catalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Mentoring_Necessary_But_Insufficient_for_Advancement_Final_120610.pdf">other professional opportunities</a>. </p>
<p>This means once women are in STEM careers, especially in male-dominated industries such as the mining industry, they encounter <a href="https://www.science.org.au/files/userfiles/support/reports-and-plans/2019/gender-diversity-stem/women-in-STEM-decadal-plan-final.pdf">more barriers</a> to success than their male colleagues.</p>
<h2>3. Parental leave</h2>
<p>It’s clear having children isn’t the sole cause of women leaving STEM careers, otherwise we’d see a flood of childfree women in leadership positions throughout the STEM sector, and this is certainly <a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/data-and-publications/stem-equity-monitor/workforce-and-gender-equity-policies-in-stem-and-other-industries">not the case</a>. </p>
<p>However, in Australian heterosexual couples, women generally <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/sites/default/files/4_fathers_and_work_1909_0.pdf">shoulder the bulk</a> of childcare. This is perhaps in part because men are not ordinarily <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-fatherhood-penalty-how-parental-leave-policies-perpetuate-the-gender-gap-even-in-our-progressive-universities-160102">given equal access to parental leave</a> and flexible working arrangements. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-fatherhood-penalty-how-parental-leave-policies-perpetuate-the-gender-gap-even-in-our-progressive-universities-160102">The fatherhood penalty: how parental leave policies perpetuate the gender gap (even in our 'progressive' universities)</a>
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<p>When both parents have equal access to parental leave, families can structure home and outside work equitably. On the other hand, providing birth mums vastly more leave can incentivise inequality, since families may be better off financially or otherwise by not using childcare.</p>
<p>Some mining companies recognise that <a href="https://aifs.gov.au/resources/policy-and-practice-papers/fly-fly-out-workforce-practices-australia-effects-children-and">flexible working conditions</a> could increase retention, and have policies allowing any employee to work flexibly. Others have “family friendly” FIFO rosters, which tends to involve prescription of the roster they believe to be family friendly.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483154/original/file-20220907-14-l6tjc2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman standing in front of mining machinery" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483154/original/file-20220907-14-l6tjc2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483154/original/file-20220907-14-l6tjc2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483154/original/file-20220907-14-l6tjc2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483154/original/file-20220907-14-l6tjc2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483154/original/file-20220907-14-l6tjc2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483154/original/file-20220907-14-l6tjc2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/483154/original/file-20220907-14-l6tjc2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">39% of Australia’s clean energy workforce identify as women.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://internationalwim.org/photogallery/">Marta del Pozo/IWiM</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
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<h2>We need systemic change</h2>
<p>Like the fossil fuel industry, women in renewables face barriers to retention and promotion. </p>
<p>Representation of university-qualified women <a href="https://assets.cleanenergycouncil.org.au/documents/resources/reports/Empowering-Everyone-Diversity-in-the-Australian-Clean-Energy-Sector.pdf">decreases</a> in leadership roles and above age 40. Women in the renewables sector make up just 32% of senior leadership or executive roles, 19% of board positions, and 62% of administrative roles.</p>
<p>In Australia’s mining and energy sector, some people are pushing for change and equity, but the problems are widespread and can be difficult to detect.</p>
<p>We need sector-wide, systemic change. This must be brought about by thoughtful and insightful leadership at our most senior levels, guiding new policies and procedures to make workplaces more inclusive of women. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/getting-more-men-into-nursing-means-a-rethink-of-gender-roles-pay-and-recognition-but-we-need-them-urgently-184829">Getting more men into nursing means a rethink of gender roles, pay and recognition. But we need them urgently</a>
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<p>Research shows achieving greater gender balance leads to <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/smj.1955">better economic performance</a> and outcomes, and more innovation. In many STEM industries, we have a strong pipeline of women university graduates being lost to other sectors in their early to mid-careers. </p>
<p>In fact, shifting only 1% of Australia’s workforce into STEM jobs would <a href="https://www.pwc.com.au/pdf/a-smart-move-pwc-stem-report-april-2015.pdf">add $57.4 billion</a> to the nation’s gross domestic product over 20 years.</p>
<p>The clean energy sector has an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the mining and fossil fuel sector and harness the untapped potential of women in Australia’s STEM-trained workforce. Doing so will deliver even greater economic and environmental benefits.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189965/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Finch has previously received funding from an Australian Postgraduate Award and a Society of Economic Geologists Graduate Student Fellowship.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melanie Finch receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is the President of Women in Earth and Environmental Sciences Australasia (WOMEESA).</span></em></p>If mining workplaces are anything to go by, the clean energy sector will have their work cut out for them to retain women in the workforce.Emily Finch, Research Affiliate, Monash UniversityMelanie Finch, Lecturer in Structural Geology and Metamorphism, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1898662022-09-06T20:06:53Z2022-09-06T20:06:53ZWe pay billions to subsidise Australia’s fossil fuel industry. This makes absolutely no economic sense<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482898/original/file-20220906-24-yqnvzm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C16%2C5528%2C3444&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fossil fuel subsidies from major economies including Australia reached close to US$700 billion in 2021, almost doubling from 2020, according to new <a href="https://www.oecd.org/newsroom/support-for-fossil-fuels-almost-doubled-in-2021-slowing-progress-toward-international-climate-goals-according-to-new-analysis-from-oecd-and-iea.htm">analysis</a> by the International Energy Agency and OECD. </p>
<p>These subsidies are expected to keep rising in 2022 as governments worldwide attempt to use fossil fuel subsidies to shield customers from the high energy prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.</p>
<p>Australia spends billions each year giving subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, despite our climate change commitments. The Australia Institute <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/australian-fossil-fuel-subsidies-surge-to-11-6-billion-in-2021-22/">estimates that</a> in the 2021-22 budget period, Australian federal and state governments’ total fossil fuel subsidies cost A$11.6 billion. That’s up $1.3 billion on the previous year.</p>
<p>Subsidies play an important role in economies like Australia. By pushing the prices of things down below the cost of producing them, subsidies make everything from schools and hospitals to the ABC and childcare much cheaper and more widely available than they would otherwise be. </p>
<p>But it makes absolutely no economic sense to provide subsidies to things that a government is, or should be, trying to discourage.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/opening-10-new-oil-and-gas-sites-is-a-win-for-fossil-fuel-companies-but-a-staggering-loss-for-the-rest-of-australia-189374">Opening 10 new oil and gas sites is a win for fossil fuel companies – but a staggering loss for the rest of Australia</a>
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<h2>Australia is a top emitter</h2>
<p>Back in 2009 Australia and the other major economies that make up the G20 all promised to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-g20-energy-idUSTRE58O18U20090926">phase out</a> “inefficient fossil fuel subsidies”.</p>
<p>But as the new report makes clear, the policy reality of many countries doesn’t come close to matching their ambitious rhetoric of reining in public funding for the major cause of climate change.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1565325352922222592"}"></div></p>
<p>Australia is one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gasses in the world. Despite our relatively low population, <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-country">we come in 15th for total emissions</a> and 8th for per capita emissions. Only major fossil fuel-producing nations rank higher, such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. </p>
<p>We are even more “successful” at exporting fossil fuels than burning them, <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/high-carbon-from-a-land-down-under-quantifying-co2-from-australias-fossil-fuel-mining-and-exports/">ranking third</a> in the world behind only Saudi Arabia and Russia. </p>
<p>Despite Labor’s improved target to cut 43% of Australia’s emissions by 2030, Australia is still looking to open up <a href="https://time.com/6204694/australia-climate-bill-2022/">huge new coal and gas projects</a>.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ultra-polluting-scarborough-pluto-gas-project-could-blow-through-labors-climate-target-and-it-just-got-the-green-light-184379">The ultra-polluting Scarborough-Pluto gas project could blow through Labor’s climate target – and it just got the green light</a>
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<p>Australia is failing at transitioning away from fossil fuels. Emissions from burning fossil fuels in transport, electricity and industry are all much higher now than they were back in 1997 when Australia signed on to the Kyoto Protocol. </p>
<p>Our fossil fuel exports have risen strongly since then as well, with <a href="https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/new-fossil-fuel-projects-do-have-massive-emissions-potential-if-built/">114 new fossil fuel projects</a> awaiting approval in Australia, many for the export market. </p>
<h2>Subsidies play a major role in this</h2>
<p>The federal government subsidises the cost of exploring for coal, oil and gas in Australia, the infrastructure needed to extract and transport those fossil fuels, and then subsidises the use of them as well. </p>
<p>Of the <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/australian-fossil-fuel-subsidies-surge-to-11-6-billion-in-2021-22/">$11.6 billion</a> Australian governments spent on this in 2021-2022, $10.5 billion is accounted for by the federal government alone. </p>
<p>By far <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/and-the-award-for-biggest-fossil-fuel-subsidy-goes-to-the-fuel-tax-credit-scheme/">the largest</a> of the federal subsidy is the $8 billion Fuel Tax Credit Scheme. This refunds the cost of diesel fuel excise to select industries, with around half going to mining industries. </p>
<p>The cost of these diesel excise refunds is greater than the annual <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/P1021-Fossil-fuel-subsidies-2020-21-Web.pdf">$7.5 billion budget</a> for the Australian Army.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1565833635848396800"}"></div></p>
<p>Subsidies work, but only if we are subsidising things we want more of. It’s important we subsidised vaccines to help manage the COVID crisis, and that the previous and current federal governments subsidise renewable energy. </p>
<p>But subsidising fossil fuels when you are trying to transition away from them is like subsidising cigarettes when you are trying to encourage people to quit.</p>
<p>So far, the new government hasn’t indicated it has any plans to cease <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-walk-the-talk-on-climate-labor-must-come-clean-about-the-future-for-coal-and-gas-183641">subsidising fossil fuels</a>.</p>
<p>Economists call subsidies for things governments are ostensibly trying to discourage, “<a href="https://sesmad.dartmouth.edu/theories/96">perverse</a>”. So why would the Albanese government continue to spend billions on fossil fuel subsidies, and delay the transition away from coal and gas that voters and climate scientists want to see the back of? </p>
<h2>Reasoning is numerous and bizarre</h2>
<p>The arguments for keeping Australia’s perverse subsidies are as numerous as they are bizarre. </p>
<p>One argument is that subsidies will help people manage rising energy costs. But direct cash payments to low income earners would be a far cheaper and more equitable solution. Subsidies lock in the status quo, while cash supports help smooth the transition away from climate-wrecking industries.</p>
<p>Back <a href="https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/swan-under-pressure-over-fossil-fuels-20110228-il2j3">in 2011</a>, after signing on to the G20 pledge to phase out fossil fuel subsidies, the Gillard government declared it had no subsidies to phase out. </p>
<p>But documents released under the freedom of information act showed the treasury had, in fact, identified 17 fossil fuel subsidies that should have been declared and phased out.</p>
<p>At the other end of the spectrum, Senator Matt Canavan <a href="https://www.afr.com/opinion/its-right-to-consider-adanis-request-for-loan-to-help-build-railway-20161207-gt5t9a">argued in 2016</a> that because all previous coal mines in Australia have benefited from subsidies, it would have been unfair to not subsidise the Adani mine as well.</p>
<p>Labor’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/11/labor-to-back-new-fossil-fuel-projects-that-stack-up-economically-and-environmentally">Minister for Resources Madeleine King stated</a> to the Guardian last month: “projects involving these traditional [fossil fuel] energy sources stack up environmentally, economically, and socially, we will support them.”</p>
<p>But if they need expensive subsidies to “stack up”, then they clearly aren’t economically viable. And if the fossil fuel industry doesn’t need the subsidies, then why would any government keep providing them?</p>
<p>Removing fossil fuel subsidies should be the first step taken by any government serious about reducing greenhouse gas emissions. What the latest data makes clear is that its not just Australian governments that are yet to muster the political courage to do something so simple.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189866/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Denniss is the executive director of The Australia Institute. </span></em></p>Fossil fuel subsidies from major economies nearly doubled in 2021, reaching almost US$700 billion. Here’s how Australia stacks up.Richard Denniss, Adjunct Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1856192022-09-02T16:32:47Z2022-09-02T16:32:47ZWhy defusing ‘carbon bombs’ offers a promising new agenda for tackling climate change<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482304/original/file-20220901-4639-bwz2nb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C710%2C4608%2C2738&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/8-february-2021-2035-hrs-bekok-1915819273">Nubli Alwi AlFarisi/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A carbon bomb is a fossil fuel extraction project, such as a coal mine, that can cause over a gigatonne of CO₂ emissions during its lifetime. That’s a billion tonnes – more than twice the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1051408/2020-final-greenhouse-gas-emissions-statistical-release.pdf">UK’s annual emissions</a> from a single project. </p>
<p>In our latest <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421522001756">research</a>, my colleagues and I found that there are 425 of these carbon bombs worldwide. Collectively, they can unleash over 1,000 gigatonnes of CO₂ emissions, which far exceeds the world’s carbon budget for staying below 1.5°C of warming (around 500 gigatonnes <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/chapter/spm/">in 2017</a>) – the world’s agreed target for limiting climate change.</p>
<p>Even though it is now recognised, even by the conservative International Energy Agency, that <a href="https://www.iea.org/news/pathway-to-critical-and-formidable-goal-of-net-zero-emissions-by-2050-is-narrow-but-brings-huge-benefits">no new fossil fuel projects</a> must be built to avert catastrophic climate change, fossil fuel companies are working on setting off dozens of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2022/may/11/fossil-fuel-carbon-bombs-climate-breakdown-oil-gas">new carbon bombs</a> while raking in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/aug/30/huge-profits-for-fossil-fuel-giants-woodside-and-santos-stoke-calls-for-windfall-tax">record profits</a> off the back of temporarily high fossil fuel prices.</p>
<p>For decades, and thanks to efforts by the US, Saudi Arabia and other countries with entrenched fossil fuel interests, UN climate talks have avoided the obvious solution: halting fossil fuel extraction and use. It seems this taboo was finally broken in Glasgow in November 2021, where <a href="https://theconversation.com/coal-why-china-and-india-arent-the-climate-villains-of-cop26-171879">phasing down coal burning</a> was mentioned in the officially adopted text of COP26 for the first time. But a credible plan from governments to <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-know-if-a-country-is-serious-about-net-zero-look-at-its-plans-for-extracting-fossil-fuels-170508">limit fossil fuel extraction</a> is still missing.</p>
<p>This next vital step in climate policy might become more tractable by framing each new mine or oilfield as a potential carbon bomb. It’s not hard to figure out that if some countries set off their bombs, others won’t be able to, because carbon space in the atmosphere is <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08047">limited</a>. This simple insight into the physics of climate change has so far been ignored by world leaders.</p>
<p>The carbon bombs concept helps us understand that rich countries like Germany digging lignite or Canada cooking tar sands to extract some of the world’s dirtiest oil takes up carbon space which means Saudi oil and Qatari gas will have to stay in the ground. Roughly 80% of all carbon bombs are concentrated in just 12 countries: China, US, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Qatar, Canada, Iraq, India, Brazil, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. Any one of these could convene talks on defusing carbon bombs. </p>
<p>Or perhaps another government that has similar projects under its belt, say Germany, Norway, Colombia or the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-62291095">UK</a>, which is poised to <a href="https://www.thenational.scot/news/20757731.petition-delivered-downing-street-demanding-halt-approval-jackdaw-gas-field/">increase drilling for gas</a> in the North Sea. A <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14693062.2019.1636759">fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty</a>, akin to the cold war nuclear non-proliferation treaty which aimed to halt the spread of nuclear weapons, could bind national commitments in a global agreement.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-ditch-90-of-worlds-coal-and-60-of-oil-and-gas-to-limit-warming-to-1-5-c-experts-167494">Climate change: ditch 90% of world's coal and 60% of oil and gas to limit warming to 1.5°C – experts</a>
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<h2>The fuses not yet lit</h2>
<p>When we compiled our list of carbon bombs to understand the global picture of fossil fuel extraction, we learned that 40% of these projects hadn’t started yet. This means that there is still time to scare away investors of new carbon bombs through campaigning and lawsuits. </p>
<p>Because these projects are so huge, they take years to prepare and operate on a timescale of decades – and their breakeven points, where they start generating a profit, invariably lie many years in the future. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="An excavator loads coal onto a truck." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482306/original/file-20220901-21-xoq2gz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482306/original/file-20220901-21-xoq2gz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482306/original/file-20220901-21-xoq2gz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482306/original/file-20220901-21-xoq2gz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482306/original/file-20220901-21-xoq2gz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482306/original/file-20220901-21-xoq2gz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482306/original/file-20220901-21-xoq2gz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Coal is the most carbon-rich fossil fuel.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/excavator-digging-brown-coal-russia-kuzbass-576445123">Kemdim/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>For the climate movement, these huge, slow-moving targets are a constructive challenge which offer many opportunities for intervention, as recent sanctions against Russia have made clear: some Russian carbon bombs look unlikely to proceed without <a href="https://www.leave-it-in-the-ground.org/resources/investors-in-russian-carbon-bombs/">support from other countries</a>. </p>
<p>Thanks to the interconnectedness of the fossil fuel industry globally, very few carbon bombs can go ahead without any foreign involvement, be it through <a href="https://bankonourfuture.org/">finance</a>, <a href="https://global.insure-our-future.com/">insurance</a> or equipment manufactured abroad.</p>
<p>While the term “carbon bomb” sounds frightening, it bears great potential for transforming the way people look at the effort to mitigate climate change. The call to “reduce emissions” – a mantra that’s been repeated by governments for the past 30 years – isn’t sparking an emergency response on par with the challenge of the climate crisis. Meanwhile, talking about carbon bombs makes no secret of the fact that global heating kills people, just as bombs do.</p>
<p>Time to get to work. <a href="https://www.leave-it-in-the-ground.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/Global-Carbon-Bombs-list.pdf">Pick your carbon bomb</a> and help <a href="https://www.leave-it-in-the-ground.org/projects/defusing-carbon-bombs/">cut the fuse</a>. There are 425 of them smouldering. </p>
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<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Imagine weekly climate newsletter" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/434988/original/file-20211201-21-13avx6y.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>Don’t have time to read about climate change as much as you’d like?</em></strong>
<br><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeTop">Get a weekly roundup in your inbox instead.</a> Every Wednesday, The Conversation’s environment editor writes Imagine, a short email that goes a little deeper into just one climate issue. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/imagine-57?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=Imagine&utm_content=DontHaveTimeBottom">Join the 10,000+ readers who’ve subscribed so far.</a></em></p>
<hr><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185619/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kjell Kühne is director of the Leave it in the Ground Initiative (LINGO). He received funding from Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung.</span></em></p>More than 400 proposed fossil fuel extraction projects threaten to blow the world’s 1.5°C target.Kjell Kühne, PhD Candidate in Geography, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1893742022-08-25T07:31:16Z2022-08-25T07:31:16ZOpening 10 new oil and gas sites is a win for fossil fuel companies – but a staggering loss for the rest of Australia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480974/original/file-20220825-24-y7xgw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C14%2C3249%2C2421&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Jan-Rune Smenes Reite/Pexels</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King yesterday handed Australia’s fossil fuel industry two significant wins.</p>
<p>The minister announced oil and gas exploration will be allowed at ten new Australian ocean sites – comprising almost 47,000 square kilometres. And she <a href="https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/king/media-releases/new-offshore-greenhouse-gas-storage-acreage-help-lower-emissions#:%7E:text=The%20Australian%20Government%20has%20approved,43%20per%20cent%20by%202030">approved</a> two new offshore greenhouse gas storage areas off Western Australia and the Northern Territory, to explore the potential of “carbon capture and storage” (CCS) technology.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/king/speeches/speech-nt-resources-week-conference">minister said</a> the new oil and gas permits will bolster energy security in Australia and beyond, and ultimately aid the transition to renewables. King also said controversial carbon-capture and storage was necessary to meet Australia’s net-zero emissions targets.</p>
<p>The world’s energy market is going through a period of disruption, largely due to Russian sanctions and the Ukrainian war. But expanding carbon-intensive fossil fuel projects is flawed reasoning that will lead to greater global insecurity.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-ditch-90-of-worlds-coal-and-60-of-oil-and-gas-to-limit-warming-to-1-5-c-experts-167494">Research</a> shows 90% of coal and 60% of oil and gas reserves must stay in the ground if we’re to have half a chance of limiting global warming to 1.5°C this century. </p>
<h2>Ignoring the facts</h2>
<p>The new sites for offshore gas and oil exploration <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-24/offshore-oil-and-gas-exploration-ccs-backed-federal-government/101368006">comprise</a> ten areas off the coasts of the NT, WA, Victoria, and the Ashmore and Cartier Islands. King’s announcement came at a resources conference in Darwin, where she said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Gas enables greater use of renewables domestically by providing energy security. Australian [liquefied natural gas] is also a force for regional energy security and helps our trading partners meet their own decarbonisation goals.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The problem with this assessment is that it ignores two things. </p>
<p>First, Australia exports nearly 90% of domestically produced gas and lacks robust <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-did-gas-prices-go-from-10-a-gigajoule-to-800-a-gigajoule-an-expert-on-the-energy-crisis-engulfing-australia-184304">export controls</a> to moderate this. Without these controls, increasing domestic production will not improve Australia’s energy security. </p>
<p>Second, gas can only enable greater use of renewables domestically and provide energy security where it is “decarbonised” through the use of carbon-capture and storage. If it isn’t decarbonised, using gas undermines energy security by risking further global warming. </p>
<p>However the deployment of CCS technology is complex, expensive and faces many barriers. To date it has <a href="https://www.eco-business.com/news/carbon-capture-and-storage-wont-work-critics-say/">a history of</a> over-promising and under-delivering.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1562281581766918146"}"></div></p>
<p>Carbon-capture and storage typically involves capturing carbon dioxide at the source (such as a coal-fired power station), sending it to a remote location and storing it underground. </p>
<p>Offshore CCS involves injecting and storing CO₂ in suitable rock formations. Doing so safely requires robust monitoring and verification, but challenging ocean conditions can make this extremely difficult. </p>
<p>For example, Chevron <a href="https://theconversation.com/1-in-5-fossil-fuel-projects-overshoot-their-original-estimations-for-emissions-why-are-there-such-significant-errors-177714">allegedly failed</a> to capture and store CO₂ at its huge offshore Gorgon gas project, after the WA government approved the project on the condition the company sequester 80% of the project’s emissions in its first five years. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/1-in-5-fossil-fuel-projects-overshoot-their-original-estimations-for-emissions-why-are-there-such-significant-errors-177714">1 in 5 fossil fuel projects overshoot their original estimations for emissions. Why are there such significant errors?</a>
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<p>A <a href="https://assets.nationbuilder.com/auscon/pages/19954/attachments/original/1645416337/Emissions_expose_report.pdf?1645416337">report in February</a> suggested the project emitted 16 million tonnes more than anticipated due to injection failure. King calls CCS a “<a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-25/federal-government-approves-carbon-capture-areas-off-wa-and-nt/101367994">proven</a>” technology, but Chevron’s experience indicates this is far from the case.</p>
<p>King <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-24/offshore-oil-and-gas-exploration-ccs-backed-federal-government/101368006">did say</a> the federal government won’t rely entirely on CCS, adding “it’s one of the many means of getting to net-zero” and renewable energy remained central to Australia’s emissions reduction efforts.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-25/federal-government-approves-carbon-capture-areas-off-wa-and-nt/10136799">critics labelled</a> the technology a “smokescreen” behind which fossil fuel companies can continue to pollute.</p>
<h2>Fossil fuels are not the future</h2>
<p>Putting gas in competition with renewable energy will end badly for the fossil fuel industry. As renewable energy’s market share expands, fossil fuels will become <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jul/30/gas-prices-will-need-to-stay-low-to-compete-with-alternatives-on-renewable-grid-operator-says">uneconomic</a> due to their environmental impacts and higher costs.</p>
<p>Eventually, natural gas will be <a href="https://unece.org/DAM/energy/se/pdfs/CSE/PATHWAYS/publ/NG_RE.pdf">used only</a> during periods of peak demand or when wind and solar are not producing electricity – in other words, when the sun isn’t shining and the wind isn’t blowing. It will not provide the steady, constant electricity supply that makes up our <a href="https://ecos.csiro.au/baseload-power/">baseload power</a> system. This reality will significantly reduce gas demand and negate the need for carbon-capture and storage. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-did-gas-prices-go-from-10-a-gigajoule-to-800-a-gigajoule-an-expert-on-the-energy-crisis-engulfing-australia-184304">Why did gas prices go from $10 a gigajoule to $800 a gigajoule? An expert on the energy crisis engulfing Australia</a>
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<p>Opening up new gas and oil exploration is a reactive and dangerous move that does not support Australia’s long-term energy future. Many of our international peers already acknowledge this.</p>
<p>The United Kingdom, for example, now <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/focus/climate-change/renewable-energy.html?gclid=CjwKCAjwmJeYBhAwEiwAXlg0AYDjQddx65kA5v2ZHsp2WY9CjEpmTU_EHHWmUQ5RB7eSNKt2E_troRoC0xIQAvD_BwE">generates 33%</a> of its electricity from renewable sources such as onshore and offshore wind, solar and biomass. The subsequent decline of fossil fuels means the UK has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50% on 1990 levels.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theccc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Technical-Annex-Integrating-variable-renewables-into-the-UK-electricity-system.pdf">Gas in the UK</a> is valuable for its ability to provide rapid, flexible power supply during peak periods, to integrate with other renewable technologies and to improve system flexibility. During periods of high demand, storage devices can discharge into the grid and maintain security of supply.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481037/original/file-20220825-5778-vqhkb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Wind turbines on a hill at sunset" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481037/original/file-20220825-5778-vqhkb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/481037/original/file-20220825-5778-vqhkb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481037/original/file-20220825-5778-vqhkb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481037/original/file-20220825-5778-vqhkb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481037/original/file-20220825-5778-vqhkb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481037/original/file-20220825-5778-vqhkb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/481037/original/file-20220825-5778-vqhkb7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Putting gas in competition with renewable energy will end badly for the fossil fuel industry.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Unsplash</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<h2>Wrong way, go back</h2>
<p>Clearly, Australia is heading in the wrong direction by opening up new fossil fuel exploration. </p>
<p>The move will damage our longer-term security and undermine our climate imperatives. It ignores the glaring economic realities that will eventually push gas out of the market. </p>
<p>And opening new gas fields while carbon-capture remains uncertain is dangerous for the planet. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/liquid-marbles-how-this-tiny-emerging-technology-could-solve-carbon-capture-and-storage-problems-171962">Liquid marbles: how this tiny, emerging technology could solve carbon capture and storage problems</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189374/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Samantha Hepburn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Opening up new fossil fuel exploration will damage our longer-term security and undermine our climate imperatives. It is dangerous for the planet.Samantha Hepburn, Professor, Deakin Law School, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1878322022-08-04T12:20:16Z2022-08-04T12:20:16ZWho benefits from renewable energy subsidies? In Texas, it’s often fossil fuel companies that are fighting clean energy elsewhere<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476975/original/file-20220801-83105-wdx2ee.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C4%2C2931%2C1914&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Texas is the No. 1 wind power producer in the U.S.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/delaware-mountain-wind-farm-photo-by-greg-smith-corbis-saba-news-photo/526768758">Greg Smith/Corbis SABA via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Texas is known for fiercely promoting its oil and gas industries, but it’s also the <a href="https://www.globaltrademag.com/states-with-the-largest-increase-in-renewable-energy-production/%22%22">No. 2 renewable energy producer</a> in the country after California. In fact, more than a quarter of all the wind power produced in the United States in 2021 was generated in Texas.</p>
<p>These projects benefit from a lucrative state tax incentive program called <a href="https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/fiscal-notes/2016/april/chap313.php">Chapter 313</a>. That incentive program expires on Dec. 31, 2022, and the rush of applications for wind and solar energy projects to secure incentives before the deadline is providing a rare window into a notoriously opaque industry.</p>
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<iframe id="noa-web-audio-player" style="border: none" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=x84olp&id=https://theconversation.com/who-benefits-from-renewable-energy-subsidies-in-texas-its-often-fossil-fuel-companies-that-are-fighting-clean-energy-elsewhere-187832&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A" width="100%" height="110px"></iframe>
<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
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<p>By reviewing the applications and ownership documents, we were able to track who actually builds and owns a large portion of the nation’s renewable energy, when and how those assets change hands, and who ultimately benefits from the tax incentives.</p>
<p>The results might surprise you. The majority of utility-scale solar and wind energy projects in Texas aren’t owned by companies focused on renewable energy – they’re owned by energy companies or utilities that are better known for fossil fuels, including some that have <a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-ne-matrix-llc-fpl-utilities-climate-change-20220727-y3ava6jmzzar3ep6a67jcgg3gu-story.html">aggressively opposed renewable energy</a> and climate policies in other states and nationally.</p>
<p>The policy implications of these findings are complex. While these subsidies might lead some energy companies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, they also can allow energy companies to continue polluting from existing fossil fuel assets while collecting the subsidy benefits. </p>
<h2>A subsidy program that saves companies billions</h2>
<p>Chapter 313 limits how much companies have to pay in property taxes for schools if those companies build infrastructure and agree to create jobs. The Texas Legislature passed it in 2001 when a number of large companies, including Intel and Boeing, were considering Texas for an investment location. </p>
<p>Companies using this program can <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/04/29/texas-legislature-chapter-313/">save billions of dollars</a> in local property taxes. However, <a href="https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investigations/unfair-burden/article/unfair-burden-part-2-tax-program-costs-spiral-16164758.php">investigations have revealed</a> high costs per job and minimal requirements for companies. The <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2019/02/15/texas-school-funding-how-it-works/">state’s school funding system</a> also suffered.</p>
<p>The program wasn’t renewed, but companies that applied for the incentive by Aug. 1, 2022, could grandfather in their investments for 10 years of tax benefits. That led to the <a href="https://www.kvue.com/article/money/economy/boomtown-2040/chapter-313-expire-tax-break-benefits-nxp-samsung-school-district-isd/269-3c3cfe26-189c-43c1-a86e-b2acf2ed2e3e">rush of applications</a>, including for wind and solar projects.</p>
<h2>Who’s proposing renewable energy projects?</h2>
<p>We reviewed 191 <a href="https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/local/ch313/agreement-docs.php">wind and solar project applications</a> filed in 2022. If built, these projects would almost double <a href="https://comptroller.texas.gov/economy/docs/96-1359-2021.pdf">the number of renewable energy projects in Texas</a>.</p>
<p>It is notoriously difficult to track the owners of renewable energy projects in the U.S., because most are structured as <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/llc.asp">limited liability companies</a>, or LLCs. However, the application for Texas incentives requires not only information on the owner, but also a signature of an individual representative of the owners. That provides a glimpse into the impact that subsidies can have and who benefits.</p>
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<p>We found that just over a third – 69 out of 191 proposed projects – are owned by renewable energy companies, such as Danish company Ørsted and Recurrent Energy, owned by Canadian Solar.</p>
<p>Over half the proposals – 101 – were submitted by energy companies known more for oil and gas, or utilities with fossil fuel assets. This includes the renewable energy subsidiaries of oil supermajors such as Total and BP, and utility owners including EDF, AES and Engie, all of which are major global players. </p>
<p>Some project applications came from investment groups such as DeShaw Group, Cardinal Investment Group and Horus Capital. Apex Clean Energy, a renewable energy subsidiary of the major investment manager Ares Management, frequently showed up in applications. </p>
<h2>New owners take over</h2>
<p>The proposed projects provide a snapshot of the renewable energy projects’ developers – but what happens after these projects are built?</p>
<p>To figure that out, we also looked at all renewable energy projects completed in 2020 and 2021 that participated in the Chapter 313 incentive program.</p>
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<p>To our surprise, almost half of the projects built in 2020 or 2021 had changed hands by 2022. Some were due to company acquisitions. Many other projects were sold.</p>
<p>This changed the composition of owners. While renewable energy companies owned roughly half the projects at the application stage, by 2022, two-thirds of the projects were owned by utilities and energy companies with fossil fuel assets.</p>
<p>The original developers may have benefited from the first year or so of the tax break, but the new owners are poised to reap the majority of the remaining years of the 10-year property tax incentive.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476594/original/file-20220728-26301-6zgwcf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476594/original/file-20220728-26301-6zgwcf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476594/original/file-20220728-26301-6zgwcf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476594/original/file-20220728-26301-6zgwcf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476594/original/file-20220728-26301-6zgwcf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=593&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476594/original/file-20220728-26301-6zgwcf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=745&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476594/original/file-20220728-26301-6zgwcf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=745&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476594/original/file-20220728-26301-6zgwcf.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=745&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<p>The most common pattern of sales was a renewable energy developer selling a project to an energy company or utility. For example, Duke Energy purchased a solar project originally owned by Recurrent Energy, and Alpin Sun sold a solar project to BP.</p>
<p>We found that ownership by self-described “venture capitalists” and other investors was rare before 2022. The lucrative and expiring incentive program likely led to a gold rush of applications, including by some companies with limited experience in renewable energy.</p>
<h2>When renewable incentives become subsidies to fossil fuel companies</h2>
<p>Many of the owners benefiting from these subsidies have parent companies with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/oct/09/revealed-20-firms-third-carbon-emissions">high carbon emissions</a> and a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2021.102386">history of fighting climate policies</a>.</p>
<p>For example, the company with the most renewable energy projects subsidized under Chapter 313 from 2020 to 2022 is NextEra. NextEra is also the parent company of <a href="https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-ne-matrix-llc-fpl-utilities-climate-change-20220727-y3ava6jmzzar3ep6a67jcgg3gu-story.html">Florida Power and Light</a>, a utility that has campaigned against <a href="https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2021/12/20/floridas-largest-electric-utility-conspired-against-solar-power-documents-show/">rooftop solar in Florida</a> and <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/massachusetts-top-court-denies-nextera-bid-to-block-states-ppas-with-hydro/584721/">sued</a> to block hydropower imports in Massachusetts. In Texas, however, NextEra lobbied for a continuation of Chapter 313 incentives.</p>
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<p>Other major energy companies in the owner list include France’s Total Energy, BP, Duke Energy and Savion, which is owned by Shell.</p>
<p>The data suggests some possible tensions within green energy policy.</p>
<p>Environmentalists have long argued for federal and state subsidies for renewable energy as a means of combating climate change, including in the <a href="https://www.democrats.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/inflation_reduction_act_of_2022.pdf">climate- and inflation-focused bill currently in Congress</a>. </p>
<p>However, as our data analysis shows, the owners who benefit from renewable energy incentives can in some cases be the same fossil fuel companies that actively oppose a green energy transition. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09692290.2021.1946708">The results of a 2021 study</a>, using data released by energy companies on earnings calls, also suggest that energy company investments in renewable energy projects are often simply diversification strategies – they aren’t replacing fossil fuels.</p>
<p>Our analysis is based on one program in Texas, but with the size of the Texas renewable energy sector, and the companies involved, it can offer insights for broader renewable energy policies. </p>
<p>Key to any subsidy program is clearly articulating the goals and tracking success in meeting them. If the goal is to reduce greenhouse as emissions, that means examining who is benefiting and determining if the subsidies are actually leading to a transition away from fossil fuels. </p>
<p>Our data begins to shine a light on the answer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187832/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nathan Jensen previously received funding from John and Laura Arnold Foundation for peer-reviewed research on the Texas Chapter 313 Program. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Isabella Steinhauer does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>While Congress considers new renewable energy incentives, Texas’ sprawling wind farms tell a story about renewable energy ownership in the US – and who benefits from subsidies.Nathan Jensen, Professor of Government, The University of Texas at AustinIsabella Steinhauer, Master of Public Affairs Candidate and Graduate Research Assistant, The University of Texas at AustinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1856232022-08-04T09:29:27Z2022-08-04T09:29:27ZThe plastic crisis has deep corporate roots: to protect our planet, they need to be exposed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471601/original/file-20220629-24-1kwtet.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C7916%2C5297&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Plastic pollution is a growing global problem.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/volunteer-man-collecting-trash-on-beach-1521472085">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>This spring, I taught a new undergraduate course in environmental sociology. Most of my students took the course because they were curious to see what their desire to live more sustainably had to do with sociology. </p>
<p>By the third week – after a deep dive into the troubling connections between <a href="https://www.versobooks.com/books/2002-fossil-capital">fossil capitalism</a> (the dependence of capitalism on fossil fuels), <a href="https://discardstudies.com/2018/11/01/waste-colonialism">waste colonialism</a> (the unjust international trade and disposal of hazardous waste between countries) and <a href="https://doi.org/10.3167/ares.2018.090109">environmental injustice</a> – a few students said glumly that they had thought the course would be more optimistic. </p>
<p>During the fourth week, we explored the well-documented history of <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/book/exxon-the-road-not-taken/">climate denial and deception</a> among fossil fuel companies, as well as the related “<a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520275829/deceit-and-denial">deceit and denial</a>” tactics of the tobacco, lead and chemical industries. “Do you think it’s really true?” one student asked me imploringly. “Do you think that businesses are really that unsustainable and will never change?” </p>
<p>I hesitated. I wanted my students to consider complex environmental problems from a critical sociological perspective, but I didn’t want to lead them down a pessimistic path. “Well,” I admitted, “I did just <a href="https://www.politybooks.com/plastic-unlimited/">write a book</a> about the plastics industry with the subtitle ‘how corporations are fuelling the ecological crisis and what we can do about it’”.</p>
<p>It’s hard to avoid pessimism when you witness firsthand the obstinacy of socially and environmentally damaging industries. Early in 2019, I attended a plastics industry conference in the wake of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/13/the-plastic-backlash-whats-behind-our-sudden-rage-and-will-it-make-a-difference">marine plastic crisis</a>, prompted by public outrage over viral images of marine wildlife <a href="https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/has-blue-planet-ii-had-an-impact-on-plastic-pollution/">choking on plastic</a>. The crisis prompted a swift response from plastic-related corporations, who attempted to frame the problem in terms of littering and waste rather than overproduction. “We need to get the image of plastic in the oceans out of the public’s mind,” exclaimed a corporate executive at the conference. “We need to make plastic fantastic again.” </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ocean-is-full-of-tiny-plastic-particles-we-found-a-way-to-track-them-with-satellites-163709">The ocean is full of tiny plastic particles – we found a way to track them with satellites</a>
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<p>Since the dramatic rise of plastic production across the world after the <a href="https://www.sciencehistory.org/the-history-and-future-of-plastics">second world war</a>, petrochemical and plastics companies have fought to expand and protect their markets through creating demand for plastic products, denying toxic risks and shifting blame for pollution onto consumers. And despite increasing public awareness of (and regulations on) <a href="https://theconversation.com/plastic-pollution-is-a-global-problem-heres-how-to-design-an-effective-treaty-to-curb-it-176226">plastic pollution</a>, the global plastic crisis is only <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2020/07/23/breaking-the-plastic-wave-top-findings">getting worse</a>. </p>
<p>My new book, <a href="https://www.politybooks.com/plastic-unlimited/">Plastic Unlimited</a>, sheds light on the corporate roots of this crisis. In it, I address the concept of the “corporate <a href="https://www.ciel.org/news/oil-tobacco-denial-playbook/">playbook</a>” used by <a href="https://www.ciel.org/news/oil-tobacco-denial-playbook/">big oil, big tobacco</a>, and, more recently, <a href="https://talking-trash.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/TalkingTrash_FullReport.pdf">big plastic</a>. </p>
<h2>Playbook tactics</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://talking-trash.com/chapter/tactics-in-the-corporate-playbook/">corporate playbook</a> often contains a common repertoire of strategies used by controversial industries to conceal or cast doubt on the harmful effects of their products. Champions of these strategies have been dubbed “<a href="https://www.merchantsofdoubt.org/">merchants of doubt</a>” and accused of offences from downplaying the health risks of smoking to funding climate change denial. </p>
<p>As researcher David Michaels wrote in his exposé <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/doubt-is-their-product-9780195300673?cc=gb&lang=en&">Doubt is Their Product</a>, “the manipulation of science by the plastics industry was at least as flagrant and as self-serving as any other industry” he had researched – including the tobacco industry. Michaels was referring to the <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/180198">vinyl chloride scandals</a> of the 1960s and 1970s, when leading chemical companies conspired to hide evidence about the toxic health effects of the vinyl chloride monomer on workers in chemical plants. </p>
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<img alt="A person wearing protective equipment and a white coat turns a metal wheel" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471602/original/file-20220629-14-vbhit7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471602/original/file-20220629-14-vbhit7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471602/original/file-20220629-14-vbhit7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471602/original/file-20220629-14-vbhit7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471602/original/file-20220629-14-vbhit7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471602/original/file-20220629-14-vbhit7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471602/original/file-20220629-14-vbhit7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Chemical workers have been unknowingly exposed to dangerous substances.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/side-view-portrait-young-female-worker-1931588168">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Big industry’s track record continues today. It has denied the <a href="https://www.ciel.org/plasticandhealth/">toxic hazards</a> of myriad petrochemicals and plastic products, funded <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-misinformation-fools-too-many-people-but-there-are-ways-to-combat-it-170658">climate misinformation campaigns</a>, misled the public about the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled">effectiveness of recycling</a>, and lobbied to <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/in-pandemic-recovery-efforts-polluting-industries-are-winning-big">thwart and delay</a> environmental regulations. During the pandemic, it also lobbied to promote single-use plastic bags as the “<a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/research/how-the-plastic-industry-exploited-anxiety-about-covid-19/">sanitary choice</a>”.</p>
<p>Leading corporations also use offensive tactics, including directing attention to their role as so-called innovators in green tech. Take the <a href="https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/circular-economy-introduction/overview">circular economy</a>, for example. It sounds like a great idea to try to <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-a-circular-economy-29666">eliminate waste</a> by shifting from a linear “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/EllenMacArthurFoundation/videos/our-linear-take-make-waste-economy-is-no-longer-working-for-people-or-the-planet/250540573573756/">take-make-waste</a>” economy to one in which existing materials are reused for as long as possible. But, crucially, no global or national policy visions of a circular economy for plastics go so far as to call for <a href="https://direct.mit.edu/glep/article/21/2/121/97367/Future-Proofing-Capitalism-The-Paradox-of-the">limiting plastic production</a> altogether.</p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/plastic-pollution-is-a-global-problem-heres-how-to-design-an-effective-treaty-to-curb-it-176226">Plastic pollution is a global problem – here's how to design an effective treaty to curb it</a>
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<p>In fact, the plastics industry promotes the weakest form of the circular economy – <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-plastic-recycling-system-is-broken-heres-how-we-can-fix-it-167657">recycling</a> – which means <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycledhttps:/www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled">plastic production</a> can keep going, despite the <a href="https://discardstudies.com/2021/02/15/on-wishcycling/">reality</a> that most items going into a recycling bin will end up being burned or dumped.</p>
<p>What’s more, recycling uses a lot of energy. <a href="https://cefic.org/a-solution-provider-for-sustainability/chemical-recycling-making-plastics-circular/">Chemical recycling</a>, for instance, involves returning plastics to their original molecular states to be used again. Although it’s promoted as a solution to the plastic crisis, it’s a toxic, carbon-intensive process that’s effectively the same as <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/resources/recycling-lies-chemical-recycling-plastic-just-greenwashing-incineration">incineration</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A person stands looking at cuboids of crushed plastic bottles" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471613/original/file-20220629-20-ctq5nt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/471613/original/file-20220629-20-ctq5nt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471613/original/file-20220629-20-ctq5nt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471613/original/file-20220629-20-ctq5nt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471613/original/file-20220629-20-ctq5nt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471613/original/file-20220629-20-ctq5nt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/471613/original/file-20220629-20-ctq5nt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Recycling is less effective in fighting climate change than commonly believed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/engineer-standing-looking-back-plastic-bottle-1492220252">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Here’s some good news: in March 2022, the <a href="https://www.unep.org/environmentassembly/">UN Environment Assembly</a> in Nairobi agreed on a mandate for a <a href="https://www.ciel.org/momentum-towards-a-global-plastics-treaty-update-after-unea-5-2/">new global treaty</a> to address the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-world-of-plastics-in-numbers-100291">crisis</a>. This was a landmark achievement towards creating <a href="https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/2022/03/02/post-unea52-reactive/">legally binding measures</a> to prevent toxic plastic pollution.</p>
<p>Many scientists, activists and organisations insist that any resulting treaty must include a cap on <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abq0082">plastic production</a>. The negotiations will be challenging, however, given businesses’ <a href="https://theconversation.com/if-the-un-wants-to-slash-plastic-waste-it-must-tackle-soaring-plastic-production-and-why-we-use-so-much-of-it-179107">vested interests</a> in keeping regulations focused on waste rather than production. Now, it’s urgent that we push back against greenwashing and work towards a global mandate for limiting unsustainable plastics growth.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185623/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alice Mah receives funding from the Leverhulme Trust and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and has previously received funded from the European Research Council.</span></em></p>The plastic industry uses powerful tactics to convince us it’s not that bad, but in reality many of their green solutions aren’t working.Alice Mah, Professor of Sociology, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1847482022-06-20T03:47:33Z2022-06-20T03:47:33ZAustralia has a once in a lifetime opportunity to break the stranglehold fossil fuels have on our politics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469184/original/file-20220616-26-5vesli.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=65%2C13%2C4299%2C2877&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the wake of the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/may/29/listen-engage-show-you-care-how-greens-and-independents-took-local-politics-all-the-way-to-canberra">Green and Teal wave</a> that crashed through the federal parliament, attention has inevitably turned to what the new crossbenchers will say and do about climate policy. </p>
<p>So far, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/may/27/the-guardian-view-on-australias-election-labor-needs-to-go-bigger-on-climate">attention</a> has <a href="https://www.sei.org/perspectives/exploring-australias-climate-election/">focused</a> on Australia’s 2030 emissions reduction target, and whether the Teals will pressure the new Labor government to increase its relatively <a href="https://climateanalytics.org/publications/2022/australian-election-2022-political-party-and-independent-climate-goals-analysis/">unambitious</a>) target, to which it has now <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-06-16/australia-updates-emissions-reduction-target-paris-agreement/101157008">formally committed</a>. </p>
<p>There’s a much more important question to ask. That is, how will any new target actually be reached? </p>
<p>The history of Australian climate policy — under both Labor and Coalition governments — shows very clearly that our large and powerful fossil fuel industry and its political clients are adept at devising “innovative” ways to ensure targets are achieved without obstructing the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/nov/03/australia-considering-more-than-100-fossil-fuel-projects-that-could-produce-5-of-global-industrial-emissions">Lemming-like march</a> toward ever more coal and gas production. </p>
<p>Cynical? Hardly. We’ve met previous targets not by shrinking the fossil fuel industry, but through <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-hit-its-kyoto-target-but-it-was-more-a-three-inch-putt-than-a-hole-in-one-44731">accounting tricks</a> using inscrutable “land sector abatement”. The Morrison government took this to new levels, allowing its signature <a href="http://www.cleanenergyregulator.gov.au/ERF/About-the-Emissions-Reduction-Fund">Emissions Reduction Fund</a> to become a <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-24/insider-blows-whistle-on-greenhouse-gas-reduction-schemes/100933186">super-generator</a> of <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/serious-integrity-concerns-around-australias-junk-carbon-credits/">dodgy offsets</a> and a <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/an-environmental-fig-leaf/">figleaf</a> for the <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/santos-eyes-carbon-credits-as-lucrative-revenue-stream-20220331-p5a9sx">expansion of the gas industry</a>. </p>
<p>Our previous government even projected it would meet its 2050 net zero emissions target through a combination of <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/praying-for-costless-climate-change-lord-send-down-a-miracle-20211028-p5944p.html">business-as-usual</a> and unspecified “<a href="https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/default/files/October%202021/document/australias-long-term-emissions-reduction-plan.pdf">technological breakthroughs</a>”. </p>
<p>Australians are now <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/australians-pay-the-price-for-fossil-fuel-dependence-while-coal-and-gas-exporters-make-windfall-profits/">paying the price</a> in not only climatic terms, but also financial terms, for being <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/15/australias-energy-crisis-explained-from-price-caps-to-the-suspension-of-electricity-trading">too dependent</a> on polluting methane gas and on electricity produced from ageing, unreliable and even-more-polluting coal-fired power generators. </p>
<p>Both Teal independents and Greens have built their reputations on restoring integrity to politics. This gives them a mandate to scrutinise accounting rules, offset methodologies and assumptions behind whatever target Labor sets. </p>
<p>That’s a start. But to foster climate politics based on integrity, they’ll have to go much further to get to the root of the problem. </p>
<h2>We need a reckoning</h2>
<p>First, we need an honest conversation about the extent to which the fossil fuel industry has <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629621003649">captured Australian politics</a> and wider society, and how this has crippled our response to the climate crisis. </p>
<p>To expose the depth of our gas, oil and coal industry’s influence on public perceptions and elite institutions such as political parties, the media, and virtually every aspect of government — from <a href="https://www.australianforeignaffairs.com/articles/extract/2021/07/double-game">international diplomacy</a> to the <a href="https://reneweconomy.com.au/climate-denial-still-features-in-fossil-fuel-funded-education-materials/">school curriculum</a> – would require something like a royal commission. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-teal-independents-want-to-hold-government-to-account-that-starts-with-high-quality-information-184559">The teal independents want to hold government to account. That starts with high-quality information</a>
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<p>In recent years, investigations have been launched into the fossil fuel industry’s knowledge and practices around climate change by investigative bodies ranging from the <a href="https://www.mass.gov/lists/attorney-generals-office-exxon-investigation">Massachusetts Attorney General</a> to the <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2022/05/10/philippines-inquiry-finds-polluters-liable-for-rights-violations-urging-litigation/">Philippines Human Rights Commission</a>. In the Massachusetts case, the Attorney-General’s three-year investigation of oil giant Exxon Mobil was followed by a <a href="https://www.mass.gov/lists/attorney-generals-office-lawsuit-against-exxonmobil">lawsuit</a> against the company, which is ongoing.</p>
<p>Investigating the practices and influence of Australia’s fossil fuel industry would lead naturally into a discussion of what can and must be done to restore integrity to our democracy — from bans on fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship to restrictions on lobbying, donations, and revolving-door and “<a href="https://theconversation.com/revealed-the-extent-of-job-swapping-between-public-servants-and-fossil-fuel-lobbyists-88695">golden escalator</a>” relationships. </p>
<p>We could look to Victoria’s <a href="https://www.vichealth.vic.gov.au/%7E/media/About%20Us/Story%20of%20Vichealth/Attachments/VictorianTobaccoAct_1987.ashx">pioneering approach</a> to tobacco in the 1980s, including banning tobacco advertising and promotion and buying out tobacco sponsorships from sports and arts bodies.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469666/original/file-20220620-24-gsbh2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Power station at night" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469666/original/file-20220620-24-gsbh2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469666/original/file-20220620-24-gsbh2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469666/original/file-20220620-24-gsbh2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469666/original/file-20220620-24-gsbh2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469666/original/file-20220620-24-gsbh2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469666/original/file-20220620-24-gsbh2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469666/original/file-20220620-24-gsbh2f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australians are now paying the price for being dependent on on electricity produced from ageing, unreliable coal-fired power generators.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A principled phase-out</h2>
<p>Integrity is not only about honesty but also upholding <a href="https://www.dictionary.com/browse/integrity">moral principles</a>. A principled approach to fossil fuel production is sorely needed. Australia is among the <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/high-carbon-from-a-land-down-under-quantifying-co2-from-australias-fossil-fuel-mining-and-exports/">world’s largest exporters of fossil fuels</a>. </p>
<p>The emissions burned overseas from the coal and methane gas we export <a href="https://climateanalytics.org/media/australia_carbon_footprint_report_july2019.pdf">dwarf</a> the emissions produced within our borders. Our political leaders have long hidden behind claims that these exported emissions are the <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-04/australian-coal-exports-to-break-record/100964414">responsibility of the importing country</a>. </p>
<p>Never mind that we put the weight of our foreign and trade policy behind <a href="https://www.australianforeignaffairs.com/articles/extract/2021/07/double-game">cultivating</a> overseas demand for our fossil fuels. You might have also heard the <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/govt-adani-support-drug-dealers-defence/nh0n1op44">drug dealer’s defence</a> of “if we don’t export the coal and gas, someone else will”. All of these are hypocritical and opportunistic excuses – the opposite of adhering to moral principles. </p>
<p>Taking a principled stand means taking responsibility for problems to which we contribute, or that we have the power to redress, regardless of whether others are acting wrongfully. </p>
<p>It’s not beyond us. In other areas, successive Australian governments have performed admirably in taking a stand on issues from nuclear disarmament to the mining of asbestos. We stopped doing dangerous things like mining asbestos because they were wrong, and we used our diplomatic weight to persuade other countries to follow suit. </p>
<p>If Australia was to regain its moral compass on fossil fuels, we wouldn’t be acting alone. </p>
<p>A number of governments recently formed the <a href="https://beyondoilandgasalliance.com/">Beyond Oil & Gas Alliance</a>, which commits them to stop issuing new oil and gas exploration and production licences and to phase out existing oil and gas production on a timeframe aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Other governments, including New Zealand and California, have taken <a href="https://beyondoilandgasalliance.com/who-we-are/">significant steps</a> in that direction.</p>
<p>In this spirit, I hope the Teal independents join the Greens in <a href="https://greens.org.au/sites/default/files/2022-04/Greens-2022-Plan--Powering-Past-Coal-and-Gas.pdf">championing</a> an end to fossil fuel subsidies and a ban on new coal and gas projects. Not only is a ban the principled thing to do, but it will help protect existing <a href="https://australiainstitute.org.au/report/the-impact-of-galilee-basin-development-on-employment-in-existing-coal-regions/">fossil fuel jobs</a> for a transition period while governments plan a managed phase-out of the industry. </p>
<p>Phasing out this industry must happen while putting communities first and while amplifying the voices of those in the community already working to forge a future beyond fossil fuels. Fortuitously, the Teal independents know a thing or two about community-building. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-ultra-polluting-scarborough-pluto-gas-project-could-blow-through-labors-climate-target-and-it-just-got-the-green-light-184379">The ultra-polluting Scarborough-Pluto gas project could blow through Labor’s climate target – and it just got the green light</a>
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<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184748/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Fergus Green receives funding for some of his research from the Economic and Social Research Council (UK). He is a member of the Just Transition Taskforce of the Powering Past Coal Alliance, an intergovernmental body.</span></em></p>Australia needs an honest reckoning with the fossil fuel industry’s decades-long hold over Australian politics. Without that, we cannot shift to a principled stand against ceaseless expansion.Fergus Green, Lecturer in Political Theory and Public Policy, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1835662022-05-27T10:57:17Z2022-05-27T10:57:17ZThe ‘carbon footprint’ was co-opted by fossil fuel companies to shift climate blame – here’s how it can serve us again<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465492/original/file-20220526-17-asq0gd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C5991%2C3988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Carbon footprints have a complex history.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/bare-feet-walking-along-forest-path-1643903440">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“You can’t manage what you can’t measure”, according to a famous business <a href="https://blogs.worldbank.org/education/you-can-t-manage-what-you-don-t-measure">mantra</a> often attributed to management guru <a href="https://www.bl.uk/people/peter-drucker">Peter Drucker</a>. This can help explain why carbon emissions are under more scrutiny than ever as we ramp up our efforts to avoid the <a href="https://theconversation.com/theres-no-end-to-the-damage-humans-can-wreak-on-the-climate-this-is-how-bad-its-likely-to-get-166031">catastrophic effects</a> of climate change. </p>
<p>For example, the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/carbon-footprints-are-hard-to-understand-heres-what-you-need-to-know-144317">carbon footprint</a>” – a way of measuring the amount of <a href="https://theconversation.com/countries-may-be-under-reporting-their-greenhouse-gas-emissions-thats-why-accurate-monitoring-is-crucial-171645">greenhouse gases</a> (mostly carbon) emitted during a product’s creation, use and disposal – has become a household term. With a plethora of carbon footprint calculators now available online, you can find data on the footprint of <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1233409/carbon-footprint-of-cars-by-type-uk/">cars</a>, <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/globalassets/documents/post/postpn_383-carbon-footprint-electricity-generation.pdf">electricity generation</a>, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10098-021-02180-2">education</a>, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/uks-carbon-footprint">countries</a>, and just about <a href="https://mossy.earth/guides/lifestyle/pet-carbon-footprint">anything else</a> besides. </p>
<p>Although this might seem to benefit our efforts to tread more lightly on the planet, the reality is less clear. Last year, an article in <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/23/big-oil-coined-carbon-footprints-to-blame-us-for-their-greed-keep-them-on-the-hook">the Guardian</a> highlighted the influence oil companies have had on the carbon footprint’s growing popularity. Its main message was that the idea of measuring personal carbon footprints – in other words, calculating the emissions we’re responsible for as individuals – was originally promoted by oil giant BP to shift the burden of action (and blame) from fossil fuel companies to consumers.</p>
<p>In many respects, this tactic worked. Free carbon footprinting tools became common, and people even began to rank them for ease, accuracy and reliability. For example, <a href="https://footprint.wwf.org.uk/#/">this calculator</a> by the World Wildlife Fund tells me my footprint in tonnes, as well as which parts of my lifestyle are the main contributors to it.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A colourful chart showing different factors contributing to total carbon footprint" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465494/original/file-20220526-24-rqlu22.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465494/original/file-20220526-24-rqlu22.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465494/original/file-20220526-24-rqlu22.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465494/original/file-20220526-24-rqlu22.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465494/original/file-20220526-24-rqlu22.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465494/original/file-20220526-24-rqlu22.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465494/original/file-20220526-24-rqlu22.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Here’s the breakdown of my own carbon footprint.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://footprint.wwf.org.uk/#/">WWF</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Compared with others in the UK, my footprint is relatively low. This is partly because I work in sustainability for a living, so I keep my heating down low, I use <a href="https://theconversation.com/solar-panels-on-half-the-worlds-roofs-could-meet-its-entire-electricity-demand-new-research-169302">solar panels</a> to generate electricity and I try to walk as much as I can. In global terms, however, my footprint is pretty big, and to avoid the <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-carbon-capture-and-storage-is-key-to-avoiding-the-worst-effects-of-the-climate-emergency-171454">worst effects</a> of climate change it needs to get smaller quickly. At least, that’s the <a href="https://europa.eu/youth/get-involved/sustainable-development/how-reduce-my-carbon-footprint_en">message</a> being sent by many NGOs, politicians and climate activists – among others.</p>
<p>Here lies the <a href="https://mashable.com/feature/carbon-footprint-pr-campaign-sham">problem</a>: it may no longer be in anyone’s personal capacity to make changes great enough to reverse the damage already done. In a world where just <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2017/jul/10/100-fossil-fuel-companies-investors-responsible-71-global-emissions-cdp-study-climate-change">100 companies</a> are responsible for 71% of global emissions, we need a <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/a8884d9f-d9d8-4b88-b34b-c59c97408629">total overhaul</a> of the carbon-intensive systems around us instead. </p>
<h2>History</h2>
<p>The idea of the carbon footprint developed from an environmental management methodology known as the “<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/life-cycle-assessment#:%7E:text=Life%20cycle%20assessment%20is%20a,manufacture%2C%20distribution%2C%20and%20use.">life cycle assessment</a>”. It was one of the first ways to measure the impact of a product or system over its entire lifetime, helping companies manage their spending on materials and energy. </p>
<p>Tools like these were first developed by companies such as <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/climate-change-accounting-for-companies-looms-with-all-its-complexities-11628608324">Coca-Cola</a> in the 1970s to help them <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0961953415001609">cut energy use</a> during the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Arab-oil-embargo">energy crisis</a> caused by unrest in the Middle East. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A person in Coca Cola uniform stands in front of drinks crates on a truck" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465522/original/file-20220526-22-w3wrth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465522/original/file-20220526-22-w3wrth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465522/original/file-20220526-22-w3wrth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465522/original/file-20220526-22-w3wrth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465522/original/file-20220526-22-w3wrth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465522/original/file-20220526-22-w3wrth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465522/original/file-20220526-22-w3wrth.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Coca Cola have used carbon footprinting to calculate their energy emissions.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/minsk-belarus-nov-2018-lorry-boxes-1227141541">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But as <a href="https://theconversation.com/minutes-on-the-lips-a-lifetime-on-the-tip-the-coffee-cup-waste-mountain-63164">disposable products</a> became more common, and <a href="https://mashable.com/feature/carbon-footprint-pr-campaign-sham">litter</a> became an associated, growing problem, company marketing began to focus on using footprints to allocate personal responsibility rather than taking <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/environment/archives/waste/eu_guidance/introduction.html">producer responsibility</a> – an approach more common in <a href="https://www.oecd.org/env/tools-evaluation/extendedproducerresponsibility.htm#:%7E:text=Extended%20Producer%20Responsibility%20(EPR)%20is,disposal%20of%20post%2Dconsumer%20products.">EU legislation</a> and policy.</p>
<p>These tools aren’t bad in themselves. In fact, <a href="https://www.lifecycleinitiative.org/starting-life-cycle-thinking/what-is-life-cycle-thinking/">life cycle thinking</a> is key to making good design choices when building technology. It’s increasingly used to help ensure we don’t create <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jiec.12954">new problems</a> while trying to solve climate change through innovation. The problem is that when these tools are applied to individuals, it takes the heat off the companies who have been driving the climate crisis for <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200618-climate-change-who-is-to-blame-and-why-does-it-matter">decades</a>.</p>
<h2>Making change</h2>
<p>Instead, these tools can be used to develop <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13068-021-01911-3">more sustainable fuels</a> by identifying and addressing “<a href="https://www.bsigroup.com/LocalFiles/en-GB/standards/BSI-sustainability-guide-product-carbon-footprinting-for-beginners-UK-EN.pdf">hot spots</a>” of carbon emission in the fuel production process. They can also be used to show where we can most effectively reduce the negative effects of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652621003838?casa_token=fBtmxdFcWb4AAAAA:o-WKT3EhAkyFXNpZBMe-rrVdWd3MzdFhb7zBWuYrphiLOvMAYpWASkIrJlQ1lsLKLN31CHQ">plastic</a> proliferation through increasing recycling in those areas.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A sign reading 'Best gift to our children is a lower carbon footprint'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465518/original/file-20220526-22-b3khp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465518/original/file-20220526-22-b3khp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465518/original/file-20220526-22-b3khp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465518/original/file-20220526-22-b3khp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465518/original/file-20220526-22-b3khp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465518/original/file-20220526-22-b3khp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465518/original/file-20220526-22-b3khp0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Individuals, businesses and companies all have identifiable carbon footprints.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/doucy/14156474185/in/photostream/">Chris Yakimov/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Carbon footprint analysis can equally be used on global businesses to show where their carbon outputs are really coming from. For example, a <a href="https://qz.com/2166046/googles-real-carbon-footprint-is-hidden-in-its-bank-account/">recent report</a> shows how the footprints of ten of the largest tech companies including Google and PayPal are largely caused by their investments supporting the fossil fuel industry, leading to <a href="https://twitter.com/R_BrooksStand/status/1526568395327561729">calls</a> for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/13/half-of-uk-universities-have-committed-to-divest-from-fossil-fuel">divestment</a>. </p>
<p>Of course, we shouldn’t totally dissociate ourselves from responsibility. Carbon footprints can still be used to assess our own purchase, investment and leisure choices to great effect. But on top of this, carbon footprint calculations should be used by industries and governments to prove they’re making the necessary changes to cut <a href="https://wtsonline.com/embedded-emissions/">embedded emissions</a> and keep more carbon in the ground. Making footprints public could also put financial and legislative pressure on companies and systems with the greatest climate influence. The carbon footprint has real power: let’s aim it where it’ll be most effective.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183566/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcelle McManus receives funding from UKRI, Innovate UK and BEIS for work in bioenergy, industrial decarbonisation, life cycle assessment and renewable technology research. </span></em></p>The concept of the carbon footprint can do more than just make us feel guilty about the climate cost of our everyday lives.Marcelle McManus, Professor of Energy and Environmental Engineering, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1837062022-05-26T15:01:29Z2022-05-26T15:01:29ZWho really owns the oil industry’s future stranded assets? If you own investment funds or expect a pension, it might be you<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465531/original/file-20220526-13-wdtgf0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=170%2C0%2C5038%2C3368&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">More countries are discouraging fossil fuel use, but the industry is still pumping.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-off-shore-oil-platform-off-the-coast-in-huntington-beach-news-photo/1217468918">Leonard Ortiz/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>When an oil company invests in an expensive new drilling project today, it’s taking a gamble. Even if the new well is a success, future government policies designed to slow climate change could make the project unprofitable or force it to shut down years earlier than planned.</p>
<p>When that happens, the well and the oil become what’s known as <a href="https://www.lloyds.com/strandedassets">stranded assets</a>. That might sound like the oil company’s problem, but the company isn’t the only one taking that risk.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01356-y">study published May 26, 2022</a>, in the journal Nature Climate Change, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=9xh8Po0AAAAJ&hl=en">we</a> <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=1gais1MAAAAJ&hl=en">traced</a> the ownership of over 43,000 oil and gas assets to reveal who ultimately loses from misguided investments that become stranded.</p>
<p>It turns out, private individuals own over half the assets at risk, and ordinary people with pensions and savings that are invested in managed funds shoulder a surprisingly large part, which could exceed a quarter of all losses.</p>
<h2>More climate regulations are coming</h2>
<p>In 2015, almost every country worldwide signed the <a href="https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/paris-agreement">Paris climate agreement</a>, committing to try to hold global warming to well under 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F) compared to pre-industrial averages. Rising global temperatures were already contributing to <a href="https://theconversation.com/heat-waves-hit-the-poor-hardest-a-new-study-calculates-the-rising-impact-on-those-least-able-to-adapt-to-the-warming-climate-175224">deadly heat waves</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-change-and-wildfires-how-do-we-know-if-there-is-a-link-101304">worsening wildfires</a>. Studies showed the <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/">hazards would increase</a> as greenhouse gas emissions, primarily from fossil fuel use, continue to rise.</p>
<p>It’s clear that meeting the Paris goals will <a href="https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050">require a global energy transition</a> away from fossil fuels. And many countries are developing climate policies designed to encourage that shift to cleaner energy. </p>
<p>But the oil industry is still launching new fossil fuel projects, which suggests that it doesn’t think it will be on the hook for future stranded assets. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called a <a href="https://www.euronews.com/green/2022/04/10/seven-new-oil-and-gas-projects-approved-since-ipcc-report-called-for-an-end-to-fossil-fuel">recent wave of new oil and gas projects</a> “<a href="https://www.un.org/press/en/2022/sgsm21228.doc.htm">moral and economic madness</a>.”</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Teenagers play in the water of the Caspian sea - one young man is flipping another, with several Soviet oil rigs behind them." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465401/original/file-20220525-12-1uqbl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C19%2C4387%2C2946&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/465401/original/file-20220525-12-1uqbl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465401/original/file-20220525-12-1uqbl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465401/original/file-20220525-12-1uqbl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=406&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465401/original/file-20220525-12-1uqbl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465401/original/file-20220525-12-1uqbl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/465401/original/file-20220525-12-1uqbl2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Much of the stranded asset risk falls on individuals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/teenagers-from-a-boxing-school-take-part-in-a-training-news-photo/478734696">Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP via Getty</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How risk flows from oil field to small investor</h2>
<p>When an asset becomes stranded, the owner’s anticipated payoff won’t materialize. </p>
<p>For example, say an oil company buys drilling rights, does the exploration work and builds an offshore oil platform. Then it discovers that demand for its product has declined so much because of climate change policies that it would cost more to extract the oil than the oil could be sold for.</p>
<p>The oil company is owned by shareholders. Some of those shareholders are individuals. Others are companies that are in turn owned by their own shareholders. The lost profits are ultimately felt by those remote owners.</p>
<p>In the study, we modeled how demand for fossil fuels could decline if governments make good on their recent emissions reduction pledges and what that would mean for stranded assets. We found that <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01356-y">$1.4 trillion in oil and gas assets</a> globally would be at risk of becoming stranded.</p>
<p>Stranded assets mean a wealth loss for the owners of the assets. We traced the losses from the oil and gas fields, through the extraction companies, on to those companies’ immediate shareholders and fundholders, and again their shareholders and fundholders if the immediate shareholders are companies, and all the way to people and governments that own stock in the companies in this chain of ownership. </p>
<p><iframe id="gQHve" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/gQHve/15/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>It’s a complex network.</p>
<p>On their way to ultimate owners, much of the loss passes through financial firms, including pension funds. Globally, pension funds that invest their members’ savings directly into other companies own <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/435a9384-8711-4b99-95a8-d55e962343c6">a sizable amount</a> of those future stranded assets. In addition, many <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/definedcontributionplan.asp">defined contribution pensions</a> have investments through fund managers, such as BlackRock or Vanguard, that invest on their behalf.</p>
<p>We estimate that total global losses hitting the financial sector – including through cross-ownership of one financial firm by another – from stranded assets in oil and gas production could be as high as $681 billion. Of this, about $371 billion would be held by fund managers, $146 billion by other financial firms and $164 billion could even affect bondholders, often pension funds, whose collateral would be diminished.</p>
<p><iframe id="gnS6j" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/gnS6j/8/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>U.S. owners have by far the largest exposure. Ultimately, we found that losses of up to $362 billion could be distributed through the financial system to U.S. investors.</p>
<p>Some of the assets and companies in an ownership chain are also overseas, which can make the exposure to risk for a fund owner even more difficult to track.</p>
<h2>Someone will get stuck with those assets</h2>
<p>Our estimates are based on a snapshot of recent global share ownership. At the moment, with <a href="https://money.com/gas-prices-near-record-high-2022/">oil</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/europe-asia-gas-buyers-switching-long-term-supplies-beat-volatile-prices-2022-05-25/">gas</a> prices near record highs due to supply chain problems and the Russian war in Ukraine, oil and gas companies are paying splendid dividends. And in principle, every shareholder could sell off their holdings in the near future.</p>
<p>But that does not mean the risk disappears: Someone else buys that stock.</p>
<p>Ultimately, it’s like a game of musical chairs. When the music stops, someone will be left with the stranded asset. And since the most affluent investors have sophisticated investment teams, they may be best placed to get out in time, leaving less sophisticated investors and defined contribution pension plans to join the oil and gas field workers as losers, while the managers of the oil companies unfold their golden parachutes.</p>
<p>Alternatively, powerful investors could successfully lobby for compensation, as has happened repeatedly in the <a href="https://www.cga.ct.gov/PS98/rpt%5Colr%5Chtm/98-R-0392.htm">U.S.</a> and <a href="https://www.cleanenergywire.org/news/german-govt-adopts-coal-exit-fixes-hard-coal-compensation">Germany</a>. One argument would be that they couldn’t have anticipated the stricter climate laws when they invested, or they could point to governments asking companies to produce more in the short-term, as happened recently <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/09/granholm-calls-oil-companies-increase-production-00015802">in the U.S.</a> to substitute for Russian supplies.</p>
<p>However, divesting right away or hoping for compensation aren’t the only options. Investors – the owners of the company – can also pressure companies to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy generation or another choice with growth potential for the future.</p>
<p>Investors not only may have the financial risk, but also the related financial responsibility, and ethical choices may help preserve both the value of their investments and the climate.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/183706/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gregor Semieniuk has previously received funding from the UK Research Councils and the ClimateWorks Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Philip Holden has been funded through UK Research Councils, the European Commission and the Leverhulme Trust. </span></em></p>A study found $1.4 trillion in oil and gas industry assets would be at risk if governments follow through on their pledges to deal with climate change.Gregor Semieniuk, Assistant Research Professor of Economics, UMass AmherstPhilip Holden, Senior Lecturer in Earth System Science, The Open UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.