Chevron to spend $10bn on clean energy push

Chevron to spend $10bn on clean energy push

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Chevron will spend $10bn over the next seven years to increase its renewable energy production and cut its carbon pollution, as pressure mounts on US oil producers to clean up their operations.

The clean energy spending pledge is more than three times the amount the US group previously committed, but on an annual basis amounts to less than a tenth of its planned capital spending of about $15bn a year between now and 2025.

“Chevron intends to be a leader in advancing a lower carbon future,” Mike Wirth, Chevron’s chief executive, said on Tuesday. “Our planned actions target sectors of the economy that are harder to abate and leverage our capabilities, assets and customer relationships.”

The move by Chevron comes as investors and campaigners ratchet up the pressure on oil producers to help tackle global warming. In May, Chevron shareholders defied management and voted for a resolution demanding the company set targets for so-called scope 3 emissions, or the pollution from the hydrocarbon products it sells.

That vote came on the same day shareholders in rival ExxonMobil delivered a shocking defeat to their company’s management, electing new board members