February, 02 2021, 11:00pm EDT
Chevron Fails Shareholders with its Climate Lobbying Report, Needs to Go Back to Drawing Board
Statement by Kathy Mulvey, Union of Concerned Scientists
WASHINGTON
In 2020 the majority of Chevron's shareholders voted in favor of a resolution calling for the company to report on how its lobbying--direct and through trade associations--aligns with the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius. Chevron recently, and quietly, released its 2020 climate lobbying report.
Below is a statement by Kathy Mulvey, accountability campaign director in the Climate and Energy Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
"With this report, Chevron is thumbing its nose at its own shareholders, who voted for corporate climate lobbying disclosure. Chevron's new report is worse than a box-ticking exercise, it's greenwashing. Chevron falsely proclaims that the lackluster positions it takes on climate policy line up with the Paris Agreement. The company further asserts the climate-related positions taken by each of the trade associations to which it belongs are in alignment with the company's stated positions. But the problem is that both Chevron's and the trade associations' positions fall far short of what's necessary to meet the Paris Agreement's goals. Chevron's direct and indirect lobbying has delayed and may continue to obstruct progress. Shareholders should roundly reject this report and send Chevron back to the drawing board. Corporate reporting on climate policy advocacy and lobbying is fast becoming the norm among European oil and gas companies and Chevron should not be allowed to make a mockery of such reports.
"Over the past couple of years, BP and Shell have each left trade groups they concluded were misaligned with their own climate policy positions. And just last month, French oil and gas company Total withdrew from the American Petroleum Institute due to its differences with the trade association's climate positions, including its lack of support for the Paris climate agreement. In this context, Chevron's decision to continue bankrolling API is just the latest chapter in the company's long history of greenwashing and climate deception."
Please contact UCS Senior Communications Officer Ashley Siefert Nunes if you would like to interview Mulvey.
For more on how major oil and gas companies compare in their efforts to halt climate science disinformation and plan for a world free from carbon pollution, click here.
A UCS report that examines decades of disinformation about climate change by Chevron and other major fossil fuel companies, as well as trade associations including API, is available here.
The Union of Concerned Scientists is the leading science-based nonprofit working for a healthy environment and a safer world. UCS combines independent scientific research and citizen action to develop innovative, practical solutions and to secure responsible changes in government policy, corporate practices, and consumer choices.
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