Beauty and the Beast? BP's and Exxon's Positions on Global Climate Change

Abstract

The author attempts first to determine whether there are significant differences among the major oil companies' positions on global climate change, and second to discover the reasons behind any differences found. The investigation focuses upon Exxon and BP Amocoötwo of the world's largest oil companies. The differences between the two, with regard to their attitudes and actions on global climate change, are striking: whereas Exxon is continuing to act as one might initially expect (resisting proactive policies on climate change), BP Amoco appears more willing to contemplate a world that uses less oil. Attempts to explain these differences focus upon the companies' respective interests, their management structures, and their nationalities. It appears that all factors are important, at least to some degree. The paper concludes with a discussion of research limitations and suggestions. (1) The Economist (1997, page 102) called it``[breaking] ranks with other bosses of big oil firms by proclaiming his concern about climate change''. (2)``T here will be costs associated with the impact that global warming will have on the climate and on the rising of the seas. Losses may be incurred at offshore drilling platforms, for example. Shipping facilities may be adversely affected by the rising seas. Increases in temperature will affect the market for heating oil'' (UNCTC, 1992, page 52). (3) By`proactive' policies, I mean policies like those agreed in the Kyoto Protocol of December 1997. This treaty places legally binding emissions-reduction obligations upon industrialised countries. Specific targets vary; that is, they are`differentiated'. For example, the USA must reduce by 7% its 1990 levels by 2008^12; EU countries by 8%; and Canada by 6%. Though a number of countries have signed the Protocol, only two have ratified it to date. Hence, it has yet to come into force (

Business and Climate Change: The Climate Response of the World's 30 Largest Corporations

“…The only exceptions are the aforementioned Chinese petroleum companies and ExxonMobil, which fall between the second and third quartiles. The latter corporation is often criticized for what is seen as efforts to undermine the work of the IPCC (Rowlands, 2000;Union of Concerned Scientists, 2007). Apart from this finding, however, it is difficult to discern any other effects of industry type.…”

“…For example, the Chinese corporations State Grid and China National Petroleum do not mention the issue directly in their non-financial reports of 2006. Previous research has often pointed to the importance of the home base and social pressure (Rowlands, 2000;Skjaerseth, 2005). This invites the conclusion that the legitimacy of Chinese corporations lies in something other than addressing climate change.…”

Corporate social responsibility in the oil and gas sector

“…The improvements by Shell and BP have often been contrasted with the relative lack of social and environmental engagement by Exxon -a company of a similar size to Shell and BP. 18 However, Exxon has also quietly made voluntary improvements to its social and environmental performance. As this article demonstrates, oil companies from developing countries such as Brazil's This can help to explain, for instance, the growing engagement in CSR initiatives by companies such as Brazil's Petrobras and Indian Oil, which are increasingly operating at an international level.…”

The oxymoron of ‘sustainable oil production’: the case of the Norwegian oil industry

“…The Netherlands-based company, Shell, for instance, has felt social pressure to adopt a pro active stance towards climate change, whereas its US counterpart, ExxonMobil, has been able to choose a reactive strategy (Skjaerseth, 2005;Skjaerseth and Skodvin, 2001). A study of Exxon and BP Amoco pointed to the importance of nationality, the companies' respective interests and their management structures in their choices of different strategies (Rowlands, 2000).…”

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