Publicity by BP PLC (LSE:BP.), Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL), Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM), and TotalEnergies SE (NYSE:TOT, EPA:TTE) about their investment in low-carbon projects far surpasses the actual investment in low-carbon projects.
While the oil supermajors spend US$750mln a year publicising their climate credentials, according to research from climate finance thinktank InfluenceMap, just over a tenth of their capital is dedicated to low-carbon projects.
Around 60% of public relations and other communications from the five oil and gas titans highlighted their positive environmental actions, but only 12% of the capital expenditures of these five companies were devoted to low-carbon activities, the report found.
Researchers studied 3,421 communications materials published by BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalEnergies in 2021, including articles, blogs, press releases, speeches, and social media accounts.
As the researchers were not able to obtain a full set of global advertising data for any company, they did not take into account spending on adverts.
More than six out of every 10 items of publicity material made at least one green claim, with efforts to "transition the energy mix" being the most popular.
Capital expenditure analysis found that all five companies expected to increase oil and gas production, except for BP, which was expected to maintain 2021 levels in 2026.
“The world’s big oil and gas companies are spending huge amounts of time and money talking up their ‘green’ credentials, while their business investments and lobbying activities tell a very different story," said Faye Holder, programme manager at InfluenceMap.
"But at the same time, they are still lobbying to lock in fossil fuels and investing in a really unsustainable energy future with high levels of oil and gas, and very low spend on low-carbon activities."
Holder added: “While this PR strategy might convince some people, it doesn’t change the fact that these companies are out-of-step with science-based pathways to net zero."
None of the company's 'About us' page described the firm as an oil and gas company, Holder said.
BP's 'Who we are' page only mentions oil twice, said Holder, while under the ‘Our history’ section, the company describes how it has always adapted to changing energy environments, from coal to oil to gas to this lower-carbon future.
InfluencemMap said Shell, Total and BP rank a ‘C-’ on its A-to-F scale, indicating mixed support for the Paris climate agreement, while ExxonMobil and Chevron rank a ‘D’ and ‘D-’ respectively, indicating broad opposition to the climate policy.
All companies, except for TotalEnergies, are also members of the American Petroleum Institute (API), which is "one of the most strategically oppositional industry groups globally on climate policy".