BP accused of abandoning climate for profit with £8bn oil and gas drilling plan

BP has been slammed for “abandoning” its climate targets in pursuit of higher profits by furious campaigners.

The company confirmed on Tuesday that it will slash spending on net-zero transition businesses by £3.95 billion a year, and significantly ramp up its oil and gas operations.

Chiara Liguori, Oxfam GB's senior climate justice policy advisor, said: “It is gravely wrong that big polluters like BP can just abandon their climate targets in pursuit of higher profits.

“These profits come with a huge climate cost that impact us all, but it is people living in poverty who are left paying the highest price for a climate crisis they did little to cause.

“Instead of being allowed to increase their polluting activities, fossil fuel companies like BP must be held to account by taxing them more, both to incentivise a fair switch to a low-carbon economy that benefits everyone and to ensure the costs of addressing climate change fall on those most responsible.

“People and planet must be put before profit and greed, for the sake of us all.”

The fossil fuels giant said it still hopes to become a net-zero company but will only spend up to two billion dollars (£1.6 billion) a year on projects aimed at the energy transition, a significant cut.

It said it will increase oil and gas investment by about 20% to 10 billion US dollars (£7.9 billion) a year as part of a major strategy update.

Dozens of campaigners are set to demonstrate outside the energy giant’s offices in London on Wednesday night with a banner stating “Big Oil Will Kill Us”.

Organiser Robin Wells, from Fossil Free London, said: “The reality behind this oily money BP is hellbent on creating is written in skulls and bones.

“The climate crisis is the greatest threat to human flourishing and survival that humanity has ever known.

“From Valencia to Pakistan, the activities of these climate criminals will kill us. They must be regulated, they must be made to pay up, they must be stopped.”

Chief executive Murray Auchincloss said oil and gas will be “needed for decades to come”.

He added: “Global demand for oil and gas to 2035 continues to be robust, including strong growth in natural gas demand from emerging Asian economies."

However, he added that renewables still pose a “significant opportunity”, and confirmed that the company still wants to meet net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

“While the pace and shape of the energy transition is uncertain, we continue to view it as a significant opportunity to grow value.

“Global carbon emissions need to be reduced, and as well as looking for more energy, countries, companies and customers are looking for lower carbon products and services to support their own decarbonization objectives.”

He added that demand for wind and solar power “both continue to grow quickly”.

Mr Auchincloss said: “This is a reset BP, with an unwavering focus on growing long-term shareholder value.”

Meanwhile bans on new gas hobs and petrol lawnmowers should be introduced, the UK’s climate advisers have said.

The advice from the climate change committee (CCC) forms part of its five-yearly advice to the Government on how to meet its target of net zero emissions by 2050.

The committee called on the Government to phase out the sale of gas cookers, as well as petrol and diesel-powered lawnmowers via restrictions on their sale.

It did not provide a timeline but said alternatives – such as induction hobs and battery-powered lawnmowers – were already readily available and “better and more efficient than their fossil fuel equivalents”.