US majors dismiss carbon ‘beauty competition’

Firms regard the ambitious climate change targets and renewables investments of their European rivals as largely cosmetic

US oil firms are taking a very different strategy to their European counterparts when it comes to climate change. ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips have largely rejected the ambitious mid-to-long term emissions pledges and forays into renewable energy of firms such as Shell, BP and Total. ExxonMobil chief executive Darren Woods says his company will not be drawn into a “beauty competition” with rivals. “Individual companies setting targets and then selling assets to another company so that their portfolio has a different carbon intensity has not solved the problem for the world,” he said at an annual investor day in March. Chevron’s chief executive Mike Wirth has echoed this in public