The Secretary General of the United Nations has asked countries to ban advertising from fossil-fuel companies. António Guterres has also urged news media and tech companies to stop taking fossil-fuel advertising.
Part of the problem is that fossil fuel companies do not tell the whole story. They are keen to flaunt any reduction in their ‘Scope 1’ emissions – the emissions from their own drilling, refining and distribution operations. But the main environmental impact comes from the emissions from their products – the ‘Scope 3’ emissions. Fossil fuel companies act as though the emissions from the coal, oil or gas itself is nothing to do with them.
We have made this short video ourselves to show the actual volume of carbon dioxide that Shell releases to the atmosphere, including the emissions from its products. Unfortunately we can’t at the moment show the volumes reducing over time in accordance with the Paris climate goals as that data is not available from Shell, or any other oil and gas companies. Which is why Mr Guterres has attacked fossil-fuel firms for their meagre investments in cleaner forms of energy and continuing investment in new reserves.
However this may be changing thanks to The Global Registry of Fossil Fuels, an open-source database of oil, gas and coal production and reserves globally, which aims to improve understanding of extraction impacts on the remaining carbon budget, thus enabling policy-makers, investors and others to make informed decisions to align fossil fuel production with 1.5°C. Watch this space!
Note: Shell data from their Annual Report 2022.