* Seven top European oil, coal companies outlined climate
plans
* But strategies still not aligned with Paris targets, says
TPI
* GRAPHIC: Oil majors' climate alignment with Paris - TPI https://tmsnrt.rs/30y7EIb
By Ron Bousso
LONDON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Europe's top oil companies are yet
to be aligned with U.N.-backed targets to combat climate change
even after outlining ambitious plans to slash carbon emissions
and pivot to renewable energy, a report backed by a group of
major investors said.
The study by the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI), which
unites investors with $22 trillion in holdings, comes as shares
of European energy companies including BP and Royal Dutch
Shell have struggled amid concerns over their ability
to successfully shift away from oil and gas.
TPI's analysis of 59 major oil, gas and coal companies
said that seven European firms - Glencore, Anglo
American, Shell, Repsol, Total, Eni
and Equinor - have set out plans to align
with long-term pledges made by some governments to cut
greenhouse gas emissions.
But those targets equate to global temperatures rising by
3.2 degrees and are "widely regarded as insufficient to avert
dangerous climate change," the report, published on Wednesday,
said.
No company was set to meet the United Nations-backed Paris
Agreement's long-term goal of limiting global warming to "well
below" 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by reducing
carbon emissions to net zero, it said.
"We're very happy that some oil and gas companies are seeing
these fundamental changes and trying to respond," said Bill
Hartnett, stewardship director of ESG Investment at Aberdeen
Standard Investments, a TPI member.
"Some (companies) might have made bigger statements so far
than the others and the important thing is the direction of
travel. But none of them are making net zero yet," Hartnett told
Reuters.
BP, whose CEO Bernard Looney plans to grow the company's
renewables business twenty-fold by the end of the decade, is the
least aligned among the European companies, not even meeting the
government pledges level, according to the report.
In May, BP said that it disagreed with TPI's methodology
which focuses on the carbon intensity of fuels.
Fossil fuels are the main cause for the release of
heat-capturing greenhouse gas emissions.
FACTBOX-Big Oil's climate targets
Investors such as Aberdeen are regularly talking to
companies about their Paris Agreement alignment on issues
including emissions from fuels sold, known as Scope 3 emissions,
and their memberships in energy associations around the world,
Hartnett said.
"Engagement is ongoing and there is pretty good momentum on
getting towards Paris alignment."
A Shell spokeswoman said the company continues "to engage
with TPI over their methodology" to show it is how it is aligned
with "society's move towards" the Paris goals.
Anglo American said in a statement: "achieving these targets
is not all within our control, so we are working with
governments, industry peers and civil society... to support the
development of effective and efficient policies to combat
climate change."
Repsol said: "We will continue to engage with TPI to
demonstrate our progress in this respect."
(Additional reporting by Pratima Desai, Nerijus Adomaitis,
Benjamin Mallet, Stephen Jewkes and Isla Binnie
Editing by Susan Fenton)
