Guest essay by Eric Worrall
According to The Guardian, oil managers are so focused on profit that they ignore the opportunity to make even more money by investing in renewable energy.
Paying oil company bosses is an incentive to undermine climate action.
Lucrative compensation and stock options related to continued fossil fuel extraction by ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell and BP
Jonathan Watts
@ Jonathanwatt
Thu 15 Apr 2021 2.00 p.m. AEST
According to a study that casts doubt on BP and Shell’s recent net-zero commitments, lucrative compensation and stock options have created an incentive for oil company executives to stand up against climate action.
Compensation packages for CEOs, often in excess of $ 10 million (£ 7.2 million), are tied to continuing fossil fuel mining, exploring new fields and driving strong market demand through advertising, lobbying and government subsidies, that is it in the report.
The executive setup contradicts global efforts to keep global warming 1.5-2 ° C above pre-industrial levels.
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Between 1990 and 2019, the four companies made a combined profit of around $ 2 billion. A tiny portion of that funding was invested in low-carbon energy.
ExxonMobil has invested 0.22% of its investments in low carbon energy in the eight years ending 2018. The proportion at Chevron was almost identical. Shell managed 1.3% and BP 2.3%. None were aligned with a 1.5C path, the report says.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/apr/15/oil-firm-ceos-pay-is-an-incentive-to-resist-climate-action-study-finds
I don’t understand why Jonathan Watts seems upset by the structure of the oil companies’ bonuses. In this case, greed is certainly good. The Guardian regularly claims that renewable energy is cheaper than fossil fuels. If renewables are really an opportunity to grow profits, the most profit-obsessed oil managers will be the first to jump the ship and adopt renewable energies.
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