{"id":799,"date":"2021-03-10T11:48:10","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T11:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eos.co.id\/main\/?p=799"},"modified":"2021-03-10T11:48:25","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T11:48:25","slug":"global-oil-companies-have-committed-to-net-zero-emissions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eos.co.id\/main\/uncategorized\/global-oil-companies-have-committed-to-net-zero-emissions\/","title":{"rendered":"Global oil companies have committed to ‘net zero’ emissions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Source >>><\/a><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It’s a sham<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

Tzeporah Berman<\/a> and Nathan Taft<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The energy industry is like a smoker who goes from one pack a day to two \u2013 but claims they\u2019re quitting because they switched to filtered cigarettes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A natural gas refinery in Belarus. Photograph: Vasily Fedosenko\/Reuters<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wed 3 Mar 2021 11.30 GMT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

909190<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The United Nations campaign Race to Zero<\/a> recently published a paper identifying 20 pathways to reach net zero carbon emissions. In December, the British Oil & Gas Authority published a requirement that oil and gas development be \u201cconsistent with net zero\u201d (despite approval of new offshore permits). BP, Shell and other multinational companies have all now published their \u201cnet zero\u201d pathways.The climate crisis can’t be solved by carbon accounting tricksSimon LewisRead more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The world finally seems to be aligning around the idea that to have a stable and safe planet we need to reach net zero emissions. That\u2019s fantastic, and overdue. What\u2019s less fantastic is that many companies and countries are using \u201cnet zero\u201d to justify expanding<\/em> the production of fossil fuels. This is something people living near fossil fuel infrastructure \u2013 and our global climate \u2013 simply can\u2019t afford.Advertisement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take Canadian oil giant Enbridge, for example. In November, it committed to a target of \u201cnet zero\u201d emissions. In spite of that commitment, the company has pushed forward with blasting and bulldozing a new tar-sands pipeline through sensitive waterways and Indigenous lands. The Line 3 pipeline is heavily opposed by local community water protectors and Indigenous leaders, many of whom have been arrested in the past month for blockading the project. The pipeline, if completed, would have the impact of opening 50 new coal-fired power plants or adding 38m new gasoline vehicles to our roads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is like a smoker going from one pack a day to two \u2013 and then claiming they\u2019re quitting because they\u2019re switching to filtered cigarettes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All that the major oil companies have done (with tacit support from many governments) is shift their public narrative about the climate crisis from denial to delusion. They\u2019re no longer insisting there\u2019s no problem, because they lost that argument. \u201cNet zero\u201d is their attempt to continue business as usual without addressing what they\u2019re doing to people and the planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If it wasn\u2019t so serious, the premise would almost be comical: oil companies are claiming that not only can they keep their current levels of production, but expand <\/em>their operations that extract and refine fossil fuels. They would have us believe that by planting trees and using largely unproven, expensive, and thus far inefficient carbon-capture technologies, they can reach \u201cnet-zero\u201d and solve the climate crisis \u2013 all while continuing to grow fossil fuel production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This argument is delusional<\/a> and based on bad science<\/a>. To have any realistic shot at maintaining a 1.5C world, we need to be winding down<\/a> and phasing out fossil fuel production, not growing it \u2013 as its executives are incentivized<\/a> to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even as fossil fuel companies admit the climate crisis is a real and pressing issue, they\u2019re continuing to build out infrastructure to support 120% more fossil fuels<\/a> than the world can burn in a 1.5C scenario. Not to mention that they\u2019re also spending billions of dollars lobbying governments to weaken climate policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s be clear \u2013 \u201cnet-zero\u201d is being used by incumbents to obfuscate what actually needs to be done to meet the Paris climate goals. The rush to build out more infrastructure, the inordinate amounts of spending to influence elected officials \u2013 all of this is a last-gasp attempt by a dying industry to lock in as much profit as possible while it still can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fossil fuel companies are using bloated estimates of nature-based and carbon capture technologies along with carbon markets to justify further fossil fuel expansion and production. We can\u2019t let them. We already <\/em>have too much carbon in the atmosphere. We are already<\/em> experiencing floods, fires, droughts and extreme weather. At this juncture every extra ton produced matters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why we need a solution that involves international cooperation supported by a massive groundswell of popular support to solve this crisis \u2013 arguably the largest and most urgent we\u2019ve ever faced as a species. One that pushes back against false solutions and manages the transition to a clean energy economy in a way that is safe, fast, and fair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best solution is a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty<\/a> \u2013 paired with local actions to constrict fossil fuels like those being undertaken by movements like Safe Cities<\/a> \u2013 to phase down fossil fuels and enable a globally equitable transition to cleaner energy and economies. No government or company can do this alone. If we are to address competitiveness, equity, leakage and everything else needed to align production with climate science, we need international cooperation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Endorsed so far by nearly 200 organizations around the world and cities including Vancouver and Barcelona, the guiding principles of the Treaty are straightforward and modeled on post-conflict and nuclear non-proliferation treaties:<\/p>\n\n\n\n