Hello! The fossil fuel industry is making an unsustainable switch this week as BP and other firms are shifting their focus to oil and gas and cutting back on clean energy. BP's chief executive is scrapping its target to increase renewable generation 20-fold by 2030, returning the focus to fossil fuels, as part of a strategy shift, two sources told Reuters. On Wednesday, when BP holds a capital markets day, CEO Murray Auchincloss is planning to tell investors that the company is abandoning its target to grow renewable generation capacity 20-fold between 2019 and 2030 to 50 gigawatts, two sources close to the matter said. The plan to drop the target has not been previously reported. BP declined to comment. BP is also planning to divest assets and cut other low-carbon investments to reduce debt and boost returns, the sources said. The oil major has already dropped its target to cut oil and gas output by 2030, Reuters reported in October. Also on my radar today: |
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BP CEO Murray Auchincloss speaks on a panel during CERAWeek by S&P Global in Houston, Texas, U.S. REUTERS/Callaghan O'Hare//File Photo |
BP's shift also comes as activist investor Elliott Investment Management built up a nearly 5% stake in the company. A separate source familiar with the matter told Reuters Elliott wanted BP to scale down its green energy spending and sell assets such as wind and solar. Across the energy sector, major companies that shifted their portfolios to cut down carbon emissions and curb climate change over the last few years have switched the focus back to oil and gas. The investor environment has been transformed by the re-election of U.S. President Donald Trump, a climate skeptic and advocate of fossil fuels. This week, Britain's National Grid reached a deal to sell its U.S. onshore renewables business to Canadian investment firm Brookfield Asset Management for $1.74 billion including debt, it said. National Grid has been refocusing investments on its energy network business and seeking buyers for its renewables arm and Grain liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Britain as part of its divestment strategy announced last May. Earlier this month, Norway's Equinor announced it is reducing its ambitions for developing renewable energy capacity by 2030, while raising its oil and gas output forecast. In addition, Equinor is scrapping a previous 2030 target to allocate 50% of gross capital expenditures to renewables and low carbon solutions, it said. Last year, Shell trimmed plans to expand in renewable energy, especially offshore wind, where they previously hoped to benefit from their experience of operating oil and gas production at sea. Here are a few key U.S. diversity, equity and inclusion developments: - US Supreme Court tackles straight woman's 'reverse' discrimination case - American Bar Association suspends law school DEI rule enforcement - Berkshire Hathaway removes diversity and inclusion from annual report - Citigroup and Morgan Stanley joins Wall Street's retreat from diversity initiatives - JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon reaffirms DEI commitment despite industry shift, CNBC reports | |
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Palestinians walk near a puddle of wastewater and garbage, amid the spread of skin infections, Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa |
- Gaza cleanup: Click here for a story by the Reuters graphics team exploring Gaza's destroyed waste system after 15 months of war. With access to designated landfills blocked and no transport due to a fuel blockade imposed by Israel, hundreds of thousands of tons of solid waste has piled up in the streets. As the cleanup begins, the impacts on people's health and land will be long felt.
- Congo children's rights: The United Nations has warned of surging child recruitment, abductions, killings and sexual violence as the rebels, known as M23, press on after seizing more territory in eastern Congo than ever before. Last week the U.N. human rights office said M23 fighters summarily executed three children in Bukavu, the region's second-largest city which fell earlier this month. An M23 spokesperson has denied the allegation.
- China air quality: China is aiming to effectively eliminate severe air pollution by improving its air quality forecasting and early warning systems and enhancing coordinated management of harmful airborne particles known as PM2.5 by the end of 2025, said Li Tianwei, Director of the Department of Atmospheric Environment.
- Biodiversity: Countries gather in Rome this week to figure out how to generate $200 billion a year to help preserve the world's biodiversity as the United States draws back. How to get richer countries to support poorer ones as grant and loan willingness declines amid a cost-of-living crisis remains a main sticking point.
- Brazil sinkholes: Some 1,200 people are at risk of having their homes being slowly swallowed by the earth in the city of Buriticupu, in the northeastern tip of the Brazilian Amazon. In recent weeks, huge sinkholes, several meters (feet) deep, have led the city with a population of 55,000 people to declare a state of emergency.
- Women at work: In 2024, Britain's FTSE 350 companies had women on 43.4% of company boards compared with 40.2% a year earlier, according to a government-backed report. Women held 35.3% of leadership roles last year versus 33.5% in the previous year, the FTSE Women Leaders Review report said.
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Shiladitya Ghosh, chief operating officer and co-founder of a UK-based direct air capture plant Mission Zero Technologies, shares his thoughts on BP's switch to more fossil fuels and less renewables: "Scaling back renewable investment and increasing the production of fossil fuels is bad news for people and the planet, but this is obvious. "Less clear is the poor economic decision making of these firms. "Oil and gas are not safe long-term investments for company revenues or energy security. "This short-sighted, knee-jerk reaction increases dependence on a finite product at risk to geopolitical turbulence and expensive stranded assets. "It's no quick fix either. Developing just one hard-to-extract deep sea well is a costly process that can take years. "Inversely, doubling down on renewables and the infrastructure that supports it will rapidly secure cheap, domestic energy in an increasingly fragile and insecure world. "Moves away from such priorities seem to be rooted in a retreat away from what's been tried and tested and giving in to 'culture war' rhetoric that would target anything 'green'. "This neither represents solid business decision-making or economic fact. "These shareholders need to re-evaluate what is really going to create long-term value and revenue. You can't reap long-term shareholder dividends on a dying planet." |
Dancers perform during rehearsals at Higher Institute of Dramatic Arts in Damascus, Syria. REUTERS/Yamam al Shaar |
Today's spotlight shines a light on the artists working to safeguard creativity under Syria's new, Islamist-led authorities. Islamists have taken different approaches to artistic expression and cultural heritage in territories they've ruled. The Taliban in Afghanistan have been among the most hardline, stunning the world in 2001 by obliterating the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan. In 2024, the Taliban's morality ministry reported destroying 21,328 musical instruments over the previous year. But in Syria, following a brief interlude after the fall of President Bashar al-Assad, cultural life in Damascus has, for now, flickered back to life – with support from the new authorities. Click here for the full Reuters story. |
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Sustainable Switch was edited by Christina Fincher. |
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