Green, empty promises? The truth behind corporate climate pledges

Green, empty promises? The truth behind corporate climate pledges

For climate campaigners, 26 May seemed like the start of a long-awaited reckoning for oil and gas companies.

Over a single 24-hour period, a Dutch court ordered Shell to dramatically cut emissions, shareholders voted to force Chevron to reduce emissions from the products it sells, and a tiny activist investment firm secured three positions on ExxonMobil's 12-member board for candidates committed to climate action.

When trying to ascribe responsibility for the climate crisis, it's hard to overstate the outsized role fossil fuel companies have played. The products of just 100 private and state-owned fossil fuel companies were linked to 71% of global industrial greenhouse gas emissions since 1988, according to a groundbreaking 2017 report.