The ‘day of reckoning’ for Big Oil, when events at boardrooms and courtrooms issued last month the starkest warning to oil majors’ license to operate yet, was hailed as a huge victory for climate activists. But the climate celebration may be a bit premature. Rebel shareholder votes at Exxon and Chevron and a court ruling against Shell delivered a blow to Big Oil in a single day, and environmentalists are ecstatic. But for all the glee that oil majors ‘got what they deserved’, climate activists may be overlooking the unintended consequences of shareholders punishing oil companies about their continued investment in oil and gas production. ‘Pyrrhic Victory’ The court and boardroom wins for climate enthusiasts could be a pyrrhic victory, because unless oil demand also drops, emissions may not fall, Jason Bordoff, the co-founding dean of the Columbia Climate School and a columnist at Foreign Policy , says. Global […]