Big Oil has learnt it needs to listen on climate change

Big Oil has learnt it needs to listen on climate change

A couple of years ago, Bernard Looney, chief executive of energy giant BP, did something unusual. After watching protesters hurl angry criticisms at the 2019 annual general meeting in Aberdeen, he asked to meet one, and subsequently spent many hours quietly listening, trying to understand her point of view.

"I don't agree with all or most of what she said. But I do want to hear her, to see the world through her eyes,“ he told me. "She has definitely changed some of my views.“ 

This "listening“ exercise has not shieldedBP from criticism or mistakes. Although Looney unveiled bold climate targets last year, its share price still tumbled, because investors fret about falling oil and gas revenues. Some green activists argue that it is unclear whether Looney can implement his bold pledges.

But meeting with an alien tribe does at least appear to have allowed Looney to see how the zeitgeist is shifting. And this week's events surrounding ExxonMobil, where shareholders backed an activist investor who warned that the company faces an "existential risk“ because of its focus on fossil fuels, have shown why this matters.

It has been clear for a while that some investors and citizens are becoming increasingly exercised by climate