Oil and gas “supermajors” are collectively spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year to promote their climate action efforts, compared with a tenth of investment in “low carbon” development, a new study has claimed.
Using cost estimates based on the number of communications and media staff the companies employ, InfluenceMap’s analysis suggests that the companies, which include BP, Shell and ExxonMobil, are spending around $750m each year cumulatively on climate-related communication activities.
InfluenceMap said that across 3421 items of public communications materials from the five companies in 2021, 60% contained at least one green claim, while only 23% contained claims promoting oil and gas.
Claims highlighting the companies’ support of, or involvement with, efforts to transition the energy mix “were by far” the most popular type of green claim, said InfluenceMap.
In contrast, only 12% of the five companies’ 2022 capital expenditure (CAPEX) is forecasted to be dedicated to “low carbon” activities.
Additionally, none of the supermajors’ forecasted oil production appears in line with the International Energy Agency’s Net Zero Emissions by 2050 (as of Q4 2021), with several companies planning to increase oil and gas production between 2021 and 2026, except for BP.
The analysis focuses on the companies’ main corporate communications channels and so is focused on their North American/European communications.