BP Sets Out Low Carbon Commitment

BP has published a new report setting out its commitment to a low carbon future.

The report, Advancing the Energy Transition, details BP’s framework for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in its operations, improving its products to help customers reduce their emissions and creating low carbon businesses. The report also sets out near-term targets for limiting greenhouse gas emissions which are intended to be met over 10 years.

BP intends to keep net greenhouse gas emissions from its operations at or below 2015 levels out to 2025 by generating sustainable reductions in emissions throughout its operations, limiting the intensity of methane emissions from its oil and gas business and through using carbon offset projects.

The company aims to generate sustainable reductions of 3.5 million tons of annual CO2 equivalent greenhouse gas emissions throughout its businesses by 2025. As a key part of this, BP is focusing on methane emissions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change data suggests that methane accounts for around 20 percent of man-made GHG emissions. Methane has a shorter lifetime in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide, but it has a higher global warming potential. Since methane is the primary component of natural gas, BP is limiting the methane intensity – methane emissions from its operations where gas goes to market as a percentage of that gas – to 0.2 percent across its oil and gas operations.

The company is also aiming for zero routine flaring by 2030, as part of an initiative by the World Bank, and will offset any increase in emissions above 2015 levels.

“The world is growing like never before, creating opportunity for billions of people, and all this growth requires energy,” says Group Chief Executive, Bob Dudley. “But as the world demands more energy it also demands that it be produced and delivered in new ways, with fewer emissions. At BP, we embrace this dual challenge. We have always looked to the future, adapted to change and met challenges like this head on.”

Renewables are the fastest-growing source of energy today, on course to provide at least 14 percent of the global energy mix by 2040 and BP, already involved in ethanol, biofuel, solar and wind projects, aims to expand in this field.

BP has also introduced a group-wide accreditation program, Advancing Low Carbon, designed to encourage every part of the company to pursue lower carbon opportunities and to encourage customers and others outside BP to make lower carbon choices. The program highlights activities across BP that demonstrate and deliver better carbon outcomes, including generating greenhouse gas emission savings directly or through offsets. Each activity included in the program is evaluated, and subjected to independent assurance against defined criteria. The program has been launched with an initial 33 accredited activities from throughout BP’s businesses.

“We now know that a race to renewables will not be enough. To deliver significantly lower emissions every type of energy needs to be cleaner and better. That’s why we are making bold changes across our entire business,” said Dudley.