After years of resistance, oil executives
are raising global-warming issue ahead of
[Paris] summit
By BILL SPINDLE and FRANCIS X. ROCCA
SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal
May 24,
2015
Oil
companies are ratcheting up their involvement in the debate over climate change
as governments, activists, churches and some big investors gear up for a global
summit on the issue at the end of the year in Paris.
The stated
goal of the summit is to keep manmade warming limited to two degrees Celsius
above preindustrial levels, but governments remain far apart on how to achieve
it.
Meeting
such a goal will require far-reaching changes in energy-consumption patterns
and likely efforts to put a cost on carbon use, many experts say. Activists
have long focused much of their effort on trying to rein in the use of resource
companies’ bread and butter: carbon-emitting fossil fuels.
Pope Francis is planning to weigh in on the environment
in an encyclical—a letter intended to develop and explain Catholic teaching—due
within the next few weeks, which has made Rome one of the focal points in the
global-warming debate. Exxon Mobil Corp.recently
dispatched one of its senior lobbyists and a planning executive to Rome in an
attempt to brief the Vatican on its outlook for energy markets.
For years,
shareholder activists have urged resource companies to curb emissions. More
recently, some big investors are taking global warming into consideration in
their portfolio building. The Church of England and Norway’s sovereign-wealth
fund, one of the world’s biggest institutional investors, have sold off shares
in pure-play coal companies.
At the same
time, some of the resource companies’ own shareholders are pushing them to
scale back their dependence on carbon-based fuels, worried about the future
financial impact of heightened global-warming regulation. Oil, mining and coal
companies also are anticipating rules to limit emissions that would make oil
and natural gas more costly, potentially reducing demand for the fuels.
This has
led to a change in behavior. Where in the past executives could be dismissive
of the climate-change debate or leap to defend their companies, industry
officials are now raising the issue themselves and proposing remedies such as
the imposition of a carbon tax.
“We have to stop being defensive,” Total SA Chief
Executive Patrick Pouyanné told a major industry conference in Houston last
month. “In the end, it won’t be solved by diplomacy only, but by private
players, economic players like us.”
Total, Saudi Aramco, Eni SpA, BG PLC, Royal Dutch
Shell PLC and others have formed an industry group
specifically to add their collective voice to the climate debate, and they are
trying to bring other leading international oil-and-gas companies into the group.
“Business
is engaged in a way I’ve never seen before,” said Rachel Kyte, head
of the climate-change division of the World Bank.
Similarly, the mining industry’s “approach to sustainable development
has evolved,” said Gary Goldberg, chief executive of Newmont Mining Corp.,
one of the world’s biggest gold-mining companies. “It still needs to be
addressed globally, and you still need to come up with a global solution.”
In February,
Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden told a group of executives
decked out in tuxedos and formal gowns at an oil-and-gas conference in London
that they could no longer keep a “low profile on the issue” of climate change
ahead of United Nations-sponsored talks in Paris this year that could result in
new global carbon-emissions limits.
“We have to
make sure that our voice is heard by members of government, by civil society
and the general public,” he said.
The Vatican
is another important constituency. In an unusually explicit mix of the
political and pastoral, Pope Francis has said he wants his encyclical about the
environment to come out before the Paris climate meeting, so that it can “make
a contribution” to deliberations there.
“The minute
the word got out that the pope was working on this, we had a lot of people
contributing,” said Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, who heads the
Vatican office in charge of drafting the encyclical. “We listened to everybody
who had something to say: physicians, academicians, students; people in all
walks of life, including people from the oil industry.”
The Exxon
briefing took place over a small private lunch at the home of a U.S. diplomat
in the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See. A second Exxon lobbyist who is based in Italy
attended the meeting, Exxon said.
The meeting
also was attended by Curtis McKenzie, a Canadian national with
experience in finance and the oil-and-gas industry. Mr. McKenzie has had
several duties in Cardinal Turkson’s office, including administrative and
research tasks and media relations, all on a voluntary basis. Such arrangements
happen occasionally in Vatican offices, some of which serve much like
mini-think tanks.
Vatican
officials weren’t present, Mr. McKenzie said. He said he isn’t directly
involved in work related to the encyclical. A lay member of the Franciscan
religious order and a university professor also attended the meeting, but
neither has connections to the Vatican, he said.
The
encyclical pointedly wasn’t discussed at the meeting, Exxon and Mr. McKenzie
said. The Exxon planning official gave a 16-slide PowerPoint presentation
covering the company’s broad outlook for the global industry and energy use—a
talk Exxon spokesman Alan Jeffers said its executives have delivered
hundreds of times this year, including to another group of legislators and
government officials, on the same trip to Rome.
Exxon said
that interacting with the Vatican isn’t unusual for the company. “Exxon Mobil
has a long-standing relationship with the Vatican and our people have had
numerous interactions with Vatican officials over the years,” Mr. Jeffers said
in an emailed comment.
Exxon and
others are increasingly engaged with shareholders voicing concerns about the
impact of carbon regulations on the value of their assets. Their argument: If
governments rein in carbon emissions, companies may not be able to extract all
the oil or metal they claim as reserves.
In
response, Exxon published two reports a year ago arguing that governments are
unlikely to impose restrictions that will slow economic growth. That virtually
assures that fossil fuels will remain valuable, Exxon says.
Rex Tillerson, Exxon’s
chairman and chief executive, told thousands of executives and industry
officials at a recent industry conference that “everyone agrees” that even three
decades from now about 80% of the world’s energy supply will come from fossil
fuels.
“We think we’re in a business the world needs,”
he said. “What we have to do is deliver in a way that is acceptable to the
public.”
Comment out of BP's "Energy Outlook 2035":
Energy consumption grows less rapidly than the global economy, with GDP growth averaging 3.5% p.a. 2012-35. As a result energy intensity, the amount of energy required per unit of GDP, declines by 36% (1.9% p.a.) between 2012 and 2035.
The decline in energy intensity accelerates; the expected rate of decline post 2020 is more than double the decline rate achieved 2000-2010. Fuel shares evolve slowly. Oil’s share continues to decline, its position as the leading fuel briefly challenged by coal. Gas gains share steadily.
By 2035 all the fossil fuel shares are clustering around 27%, and for the first time since the Industrial Revolution there is no single dominant fuel. Taken together, fossil fuels lose share but they are still the dominant form of energy in 2035 with a share of 81%, compared to 86% in 2012.
Among non-fossil fuels, renewables (including biofuels) gain share rapidly, from around 2% today to 7% by 2035, while hydro and nuclear remain fairly flat. Renewables overtake nuclear in 2025, and by 2035 they match hydro.
Comment out of BP's "Energy Outlook 2035":
Energy consumption grows less rapidly than the global economy, with GDP growth averaging 3.5% p.a. 2012-35. As a result energy intensity, the amount of energy required per unit of GDP, declines by 36% (1.9% p.a.) between 2012 and 2035.
The decline in energy intensity accelerates; the expected rate of decline post 2020 is more than double the decline rate achieved 2000-2010. Fuel shares evolve slowly. Oil’s share continues to decline, its position as the leading fuel briefly challenged by coal. Gas gains share steadily.
By 2035 all the fossil fuel shares are clustering around 27%, and for the first time since the Industrial Revolution there is no single dominant fuel. Taken together, fossil fuels lose share but they are still the dominant form of energy in 2035 with a share of 81%, compared to 86% in 2012.
Among non-fossil fuels, renewables (including biofuels) gain share rapidly, from around 2% today to 7% by 2035, while hydro and nuclear remain fairly flat. Renewables overtake nuclear in 2025, and by 2035 they match hydro.
Tras años de resistencia, las empresas energéticas se suman al debate
del cambio climático
Por BILL SPINDLE y FRANCIS X. ROCCA
FUENTE: The Wall Street Journal
Mayo 24,
2015
Los activistas han apuntado a limitar el recurso básico de las
empresas de hidrocarburos: los combustibles fósiles.
Las empresas
petroleras están participando más en el debate sobre el cambio climático en
momentos en que gobiernos, activistas, iglesias y algunos grandes
inversionistas se preparan para una cumbre global sobre el tema a fin de año en
París.
La meta establecida
de la cumbre es mantener el calentamiento causado por los humanos a dos grados
centígrados por encima de los niveles preindustriales, pero los gobiernos
mantienen grandes diferencias sobre los métodos para lograrlo.
Alcanzar dicho
objetivo requerirá cambios de amplio alcance en los patrones de consumo de energía
e intentos de ponerle un costo a la emisión de dióxido de carbono, vaticinan
muchos expertos. Desde hace mucho, los activistas han enfocado gran parte de
sus esfuerzos en tratar de limitar el uso del recurso básico de las empresas
energéticas: los combustibles fósiles.
El papa Francisco planea expresar su
opinión sobre el medio ambiente en una encíclica prevista para las próximas
semanas, lo que transforma al Vaticano en uno de los focos de atención en el
debate sobre el calentamiento del planeta. Exxon MobilCorp. envió hace
poco a uno de sus representantes de mayor rango y a un ejecutivo de planificación
a Roma para informar al Vaticano sobre su perspectiva para los mercados de
energía.
Desde hace años,
varios accionistas activistas han exhortado a las compañías a limitar sus
emisiones. Recientemente, algunos grandes inversionistas han tomado en
consideración el calentamiento global a la hora de armar sus portafolios. La Iglesia de Inglaterra y el fondo
soberano de Noruega, uno de los inversionistas institucionales más grandes del
mundo, han vendido acciones de empresas puramente carboníferas.
Al mismo tiempo,
algunos accionistas están presionando a estas compañías para que reduzcan su
dependencia de los combustibles basados en el carbono, preocupados por el
impacto financiero en un futuro de mayores regulaciones sobre el calentamiento
global. Las empresas también prevén normas para limitar las emisiones, lo que
encarecerían el petróleo y el gas natural y, a su vez, provocaría una caída de
la demanda de estos combustibles.
Eso ha generado un
cambio de actitud. Si bien en el pasado los ejecutivos podían desestimar el
debate sobre el cambio climático o salir en defensa de sus empresas, ahora
están planteando el asunto por su cuenta y proponiendo soluciones como la
imposición de un impuesto al dióxido de carbono.
“Tenemos que dejar de ser defensivos”,
dijo Patrick Pouyanné, presidente ejecutivo de la francesa Total SA, en una
conferencia del sector llevada a cabo el mes pasado en Houston. “Al final, no
será resuelto solamente por la diplomacia, sino por actores privados, actores
económicos como nosotros”.
Total, Saudi Aramco, Eni SpA, BG, PLC, Royal Dutch Shelly otras grandes empresas energéticas han formado una agrupación con el objetivo específico de aportar su
voz colectiva al debate climático, y están tratando de sumar a otras
multinacionales líderes de los hidrocarburos.
“El sector está
involucrado de una forma que nunca he visto antes”, reconoce Rachel Kyte,
directora de la división de cambio climático del Banco Mundial.
De forma similar, el “enfoque (de la
industria minera) en el desarrollo sostenible ha evolucionado”, afirma Gary
Goldberg, presidente ejecutivo de Newmont
Mining Corp. ,
uno de los mayores productores de oro del mundo. “Aún necesita ser abordada a
nivel mundial, y se necesita hallar una solución global”, asevera.
El presidente ejecutivo de Shell, Ben van Beurden,
dijo en febrero ante un grupo de ejecutivos en una conferencia sobre
hidrocarburos en Londres que ya no podían mantener un “perfil bajo sobre el
tema” del cambio climático en la antesala de las negociaciones, patrocinadas
por la ONU en París, las cuales podrían resultar en nuevos límites a las
emisiones de carbono. “Tenemos que asegurarnos de que nuestra voz sea escuchada
por miembros de gobiernos, la sociedad civil y el público en general”, sostuvo.
El Vaticano es otro
actor importante. En una mezcla inusualmente explícita de lo político y lo
pastoral, el papa Francisco ha manifestado su deseo de que la encíclica sobre
el medio ambiente salga antes de la cumbre climática para que pueda “hacer un
aporte” a las deliberaciones en París.
“El minuto en que
se supo que el Papa estaba trabajando en esto, tuvimos mucha gente
contribuyendo”, señaló el cardenal Peter Turkson, de Ghana, quien dirige la
oficina del Vaticano a cargo de redactar la encíclica. “Escuchamos a todos los
que tenían algo que decir: físicos, académicos, estudiantes; personas de todo
tipo, incluyendo a gente de la industria petrolera”.
La sesión
informativa con Exxon tuvo lugar durante un pequeño almuerzo en privado en la
residencia de un diplomático de la Embajada de EE.UU. en la Santa Sede. Un
segundo representante de Exxon que trabaja en Italia asistió a la reunión,
indicó la empresa, pero no había funcionarios del Vaticano presentes. La
encíclica no fue específicamente tratada durante la reunión, según Exxon, que
señaló que interactuar con el Vaticano no es inusual para la empresa.
Las petroleras
están escuchando cada vez más a los accionistas que expresan su preocupación
sobre el impacto de las regulaciones de carbono en el valor de sus activos. Su
argumento es que si los gobiernos limitan las emisiones, las empresas tal vez
no sean capaces de extraer todo el petróleo o metal que poseen en sus reservas.
Rex Tillerson, presidente ejecutivo
y titular de la junta de Exxon, dijo en una reciente conferencia del sector que
“todos concuerdan” con que incluso dentro de tres décadas, alrededor de 80% del
suministro de energía del mundo provendrá de los combustibles fósiles.
“Pensamos que estamos en un negocio que el mundo necesita”, dijo. “Lo que
tenemos que hacer es producir de una forma que sea aceptable para el público”.
—John W. Miller y Daniel
Gilbert contribuyeron a este artículo.
Après des années de résistance, les entreprises énergétiques se joignent au débat au sujet du changement climatique
Les activistes visent limiter le ressources de base des entreprises d'hydrocarbures : les combustibles fossiles.
Les entreprises pétrolières participent davantage au débat sur le changement climatique aux moments où des gouvernements, des activistes, des églises et quelques grands investisseurs se préparent pour le sommet global à ce sujet cette fin d'année à Paris.
Le but établi du sommet est de maintenir le réchauffement causé par les humains à deux degrés centigrades au-dessus des niveaux pre-industriels, mais les gouvernements maintiennent de grandes différences sur les méthodes pour y-parvenir.
Atteindre le dit objectif requerra de changements d'ample portée chez les patrons de consommation d'énergie et de tentatives de mettre un prix à l'émission de dioxyde de carbone.
Après des années de résistance, les entreprises énergétiques se joignent au débat au sujet du changement climatique
Les activistes visent limiter le ressources de base des entreprises d'hydrocarbures : les combustibles fossiles.
Les entreprises pétrolières participent davantage au débat sur le changement climatique aux moments où des gouvernements, des activistes, des églises et quelques grands investisseurs se préparent pour le sommet global à ce sujet cette fin d'année à Paris.
Le but établi du sommet est de maintenir le réchauffement causé par les humains à deux degrés centigrades au-dessus des niveaux pre-industriels, mais les gouvernements maintiennent de grandes différences sur les méthodes pour y-parvenir.
Atteindre le dit objectif requerra de changements d'ample portée chez les patrons de consommation d'énergie et de tentatives de mettre un prix à l'émission de dioxyde de carbone.
