Shell and others withdraw from global oil and gas emission standard, FT reports

The Financial Times reported that Shell and other major energy companies have given up their six-year effort to define a strategy for net zero emissions after they were told by the standard's creators that it would force them to stop developing oil and gas fields.

The FT reported that Shell, Norway's Aker BP, and Canada's Enbridge all left the expert advisory group for Science-Based Targets Initiative since late last year.

Science-Based Targets is an important tool for assessing company climate goals. The body proposed new rules in March to help companies create high-quality plans for reducing emissions.

Companies quit the initiative after FT saw draft standards that stated the companies could not develop "new gas and oil fields" until they had submitted a climate action plan or by 2027.

The FT reported that the initiative had "paused" the work on the standard for oil and natural gas, citing "capacity concerns". However, it denied the link between this and the departures of the oil industry.

Shell informed the FT of its expert's withdrawal after seeing a draft that "didn't reflect the industry views in any substantive manner." Aker BP, on the other hand, told the newspaper that it left the advisory board after determining that its "ability" to influence the standard was "limited."

Shell, Enbridge, and the Science-Based Targets Initiative did not respond immediately to requests for comments, while AkerBP could not be reached immediately.

Could not verify immediately the report.

(source: Reuters)