Analysis of oil and gas corporate emissions targets reveals whether targets may be potentially aligned with the goals of the Paris Agreement, providing a signal of compatibility between corporate plans and a rapid energy transition in the process.

Investigating the emissions targets of 30 of the world’s largest oil and gas companies, this note provides decision-useful analysis to portfolio managers, analysts, policymakers, standard-setters, and regulators. Beyond untangling the climate impact of companies for stakeholders with a mandate or other reason to act on emissions, the analysis paints a stark picture of corporates’ ongoing exposure to energy transition risk – and the risk this presents to all investors and banks with oil and gas portfolio companies, in turn:

  • We assess corporate targets against our four Hallmarks of Paris-Aligned Emissions Targets to determine whether they can potentially be viewed as Paris-aligned.
  • We additionally rank against peers.
  • We build upon last year’s analysis in our coverage of both targets and companies:
    • We move beyond solely examining overarching greenhouse gas targets to investigate methane-specific targets as well, reflecting the urgency of tackling methane emissions in the near term.
    • We evaluate an additional five national oil companies, addressing investor demand for analysis of these large, high-emitting companies.
    • We further assess the planned emissions reduction actions of each company in our universe, generating granular insights into whether planned actions can be deemed credible and shining a light on the say-do gap within the sector.

We identify key steps that investors and other stakeholders should take in order to:

  • Address misalignment with the Paris Agreement
  • Mitigate risk generated by the incompatibility of corporate plans with a rapid energy transition