The biggest British petroleum producer just set one of the most ambitious climate goals of any major multinational oil-and-gas company. Now the pressure is on its American counterparts to do the same. On Wednesday, BP said it will try to slash its own greenhouse gas emissions from the production and use of its gasoline, jet fuel and other products. Its goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century follows similar pledges from other European oil majors, including Royal Dutch Shell and Repsol.
Though BP was short on details about how it will hit that ambitious mark, its announcement is a coup for investors and activists putting pressure on corporations to confront a dire and looming environmental crisis. Now their attention is turning to ExxonMobil and Chevron, the two largest oil companies in the United States.
“They were laggards before and they’re now further behind than they were a month or two ago,” said Andrew Logan, a senior director at Ceres, a sustainability nonprofit organization pressing companies to address climate change.