BP embraces petroleum again
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British Petroleum is reportedly reembracing its core mission of producing petroleum instead of ESG-related ventures it has been trumpeting and spending money on. CEI Senior Fellow Richard Morrison praised the company for its return to market realities and affordable energy production.
Statement by Richard Morrison:
“BP’s latest move to reset its corporate strategy with a focus on long-term shareholder value rather than climate activism is a welcome development. People all around the world need affordable, reliable energy, and an ideological affinity for intermittent sources like wind and solar was never going to change that reality.
“This pivot by one of the energy industry’s major players underscores the dramatic recent decline of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) theory across the corporate world. Climate-themed organizations like the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) and the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA) have been hemorrhaging support and have lost the momentum they once claimed as the future of global business.
“This change in strategy from BP is not just a sign of one CEO or board of directors waking up to market realities. The push for net-zero and other ESG-associated goals has always been driven by an elite consensus of policymakers backed by the threat of government force. Officials within multilateral institutions and national governments have long insisted that new laws and regulations to restrict oil and gas development were soon on their way. Any business leader – regardless of industry – who did not embrace a net-zero pathway was foolishly risking their firm’s future because an inevitable policy response would soon make such a choice mandatory. It has now become clear that policy response is not only not inevitable, but not particularly likely.”
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