New Study Finds Big Oil Climate Pledges are More Lies and Greenwashing

Oil giants ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, and Shell are talking more about clean energy commitments, but their pledges aren't backed up by "concrete actions," according to a major peer-reviewed study published in the journal PLOS One, which found the oil majors have not significantly moved away from their fossil fuel products driving the climate crisis.

"We thus conclude that the [companies'] transition to clean energy business models is not occurring, since the magnitude of investments and actions does not match discourse," wrote the researchers from Tohoku University and Kyoto University in Japan. "Until actions and investment behavior are brought into alignment with discourse, accusations of greenwashing appear well-founded."

Board members from the four oil majors are being asked to testify before Congress on March 8 as part of the House Oversight and Reform Committee's widening investigation into "the fossil fuel industry's long-running campaign to spread disinformation about climate change and greenwash its role in causing global warming." The board members previously declined a request to testify about their companies' climate pledges earlier this month.

The companies are also facing a growing number of U.S. lawsuits for lying about their products' role in causing climate change.

In response, Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, released the following statement:

"This study confirms what observers have always known about Big Oil's climate pledges: they're all hot air. Oil and gas companies talk like they care about the climate, but they keep drilling and polluting with complete disregard for the damage they cause.

"The oil and gas industry's deception has now landed these companies in front of Congress and in courtrooms across the country. Polluters cannot and should not be trusted to help solve the very climate crisis they knowingly caused."

Background on congressional investigation into Big Oil's climate disinformation efforts:

The U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform has held two hearings in the last five months as part of its ongoing investigation into the fossil fuel industry's role in spreading climate disinformation, with the third planned for March 8.

In an October 2021 hearing, the leading executives of the four oil and gas companies refused to commit under oath, during questioning from Chair Carolyn Maloney and others, that their companies would stop spending money to oppose efforts to reduce emissions and combat climate change.

During the second hearing, on February 8, climate scientists and experts testified that the four companies are driving the climate crisis through their continued pollution, insufficient corporate pledges, and spreading of climate disinformation.

Background on lawsuits seeking to hold Big Oil accountable for deceiving the public about climate change:

Since 2017, the attorneys general of Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the District of Columbia, as well as 20 city and county governments in California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina, and Washington, have filed lawsuits to hold major oil and gas companies accountable for deceiving the public about their products' role in climate change.