Energy companies should consider climate change in business plans

Energy producers should take climate change policy more seriously for their long term strategy

Following the United Nations-backed climate change summit in Lima, the countdown has begun for next December’s meeting in Paris, where a global agreement paving the way for swingeing carbon emissions cuts could emerge. For energy producers, the big question is: should their preparations for a future where demand for their products could be seriously curbed be shifting into a higher gear?   The outcome of December’s Lima summit produced muted reaction from energy companies and industry bodies around the world. They are probably – and understandably – more preoccupied with the immediate effects of a collapsing oil price and rising costs than with a problem that many view as somewhat hypothetic