Guest essay by Eric Worrall
Instead of saying invest in green energy startups and replace oil with a better product, business expert Jeroen Kraaijenbrink argues that activists should buy shares so they can mess with the big oil companies.
January 3, 2022.09:00 am EST
Want to stop climate change? Buy a large oil depot
Jeroen Kraaijenbrink
Contributors Leadership strategy
I help companies discover, shape, and execute strategyIn an age where stock trading is no longer exclusive to Wall Street and the climate crisis is becoming a reality, sustainability-oriented shareholder activism is bound to happen. And we see it happening, with increasing impact – especially in Big Oil, which is responsible for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions in the world.
The traditional shareholder model of corporations has long been a source of criticism, especially from a sustainability perspective. As the criticism goes, shareholders don’t care about the long-term health of a company and certainly don’t care about anything related to the world outside of the company – like the health of the planet. us and its population.
But, this may be changing. Paradoxically, it is possible that this traditional shareholder model could be the key to combating climate change, achieving COP26 ambition and realization of Sustainable development goals. I spoke with Mark van Baal, founder of activist shareholder group Follow this, to discuss the value and risk of shareholder activism, particularly for climate change and Big Oil.
How to watch this game The battle against climate change
In Van Baal’s are from, Track This is “a group of more than 8,000 green shareholders in oil and gas companies.” Their goals? “For the oil companies to set clear Scope 3 ambitions and goals. This means that they are not only responsible for their own emissions, also known as Scope 1 and 2, but for all emissions in the value chain. This includes emissions caused by petroleum products, vehicles, etc. Since the oil companies are not doing this themselves, they need an extra measure of stimulus and support to put such ambitions and goals on the agenda to meet the Paris climate agreement.”
Their approach is as simple as possible. Their impact has been evident in many Big Oil names, putting these corporations on the right track when it comes to climate change. “Thanks to the institutional investor vote on these Track climate resolutions, Shell, Equinor, BP, Phillips 66 and Chevron have already reluctantly set Scope 3 climate ambitions.” And, as Follow This announced in Investor introduction, they will submit no fewer than eight climate resolutions by 2022, at Shell, BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Phillips 66, Occidental Petroleum, ExxonMobil and Marathon Petroleum.
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In my view, such destructive tactics are proof that green people know they cannot create a viable alternative to fossil fuels.
If a green startup creates an economically competitive technology, such as producing gasoline from thin air, using a solar reactor or nuclear fusion or whatever , then the oil companies will overcome them all. Not to suppress it, but to exploit it, by purchasing a patent and using it against their competitors.
Oil companies aren’t loyal to drilling – they just want to make money, bigger bonuses for executives.
The NAZIs ran their wartime economy almost entirely on coal, because they did not have access to large oil fields.
The NAZIs were not satisfied with coal and oil, they longed for direct access to oil. One of the reasons why Hitler invaded Russia was to capture Russian oil fields in the Caucasus. Although coal-to-oil worked, it was harder and more expensive to process crude oil directly, which put the NAZI forces at a logistical disadvantage for much of the war.
However, the original plans for the scale of NAZI’s coal production for oil processing are still on file, in the research departments of every oil company, waiting to be scrapped the next time oil prices fall. continued to skyrocket.
My point is, product production is the goal of oil executives. They don’t care whether the product comes from crude oil, biofuels, coal or thin air and nuclear reactors, their core goal is to keep a well-paying job, along with a decent salary. great bonuses for executives from all profits made by their business units. .
If the greens had any economically viable ideas to contribute, they wouldn’t need such dirty tactics, like buying oil company shares and trying to mess with them. They can start their own green energy company and wipe out the field with their superior product.
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