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Paris agreement: Chinese state oil companies Sinopec, PetroChina and CNOOC rank near bottom on climate pledges, Carbon Tracker says

  • None of the companies has fulfilled the minimum requirements to align with the Paris Agreement, according to the think tank
  • The trio continues ‘to put investors at risk by failing to plan for production cuts as the energy transition gathers pace’, analyst says

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Signage sits atop a China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec) gas station in Hong Kong on March 23, 2019. Photo: Bloomberg

Chinese state oil companies China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), PetroChina and CNOOC rank near the bottom on a gauge of climate pledges made by the world’s largest oil and gas companies, just above Saudi Aramco, according to a report by Carbon Tracker.

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The London-based independent think tank’s Absolute Impact 2023 report, released on Thursday, assessed and ranked the emissions-reduction commitments of 25 of the world’s largest listed oil and gas companies.

The report warned that the companies have no plans in place to reduce production by amounts sufficient to comply with the Paris Agreement goals that aim to limit human-induced global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

“Our analysis shows that the world’s largest oil and gas companies are far from aligned with the 1.5-degree Paris goal and they continue to put investors at risk by failing to plan for production cuts as the energy transition gathers pace,” said Mike Coffin, head of oil, gas and mining at Carbon Tracker and co-author of the report.

PetroChina Southwest Oil and Gasfield Company began drilling a 10,520-metre-deep borehole in Jiange County, in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, in July 20, 2023. Photo: Xinhua
PetroChina Southwest Oil and Gasfield Company began drilling a 10,520-metre-deep borehole in Jiange County, in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, in July 20, 2023. Photo: Xinhua

“Investors have the least influence on majority-state-owned companies and they should be aware that these are doing the least to align with Paris.”

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