OIL and gas company BP is expected to ditch a target to ramp up renewable energy generation by 2030 in a bid to pivot back towards fossil fuels and natural gas when it presents its strategy to investors this week.
On Wednesday, when BP holds a capital markets day, CEO Murray Auchincloss will tell investors the company is abandoning its target to grow renewable generation capacity 20-fold between 2019 and 2030 to 50 gigawatts, two sources close to the matter told Reuters.
BP declined to comment.
Its earnings reports show the company has 8.2 GW of renewable generation capacity, and that for 2019, BP's net wind generation capacity reached 926 megawatts. It did not give a figure on total renewable capacity for that year.
A recent report by campaign group Global Justice Now shows that the combined total of Shell and BP’s profits over 2024 amount to £26.2 billion, dwarfing the UK's climate commitments of £11.6bn.
Reuters also report that BP will ditch a target to reach core earnings of $49bn this year and instead set an annual percentage growth target, the sources said. They declined to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the strategy change.
While BP has said in a call with analysts it could drop the targets, it has yet to formally announce any decision. BP failed to reach its 2024 core earnings target of $40.9bn.
The company will also make public plans to divest assets and cut other low-carbon investments to reduce debt and boost returns, the sources said.
The capital markets day was originally scheduled for February 11 in New York, but was changed to to Wednesday in London because Auchincloss had to undergo a medical procedure.
Commenting on BP's rollback of green energy pledges, Izzie McIntosh, climate campaign manager at Global Justice Now said:
“The vultures circling over BP have chosen renewables as their prey. Clean energy would likely spell cheaper bills and better living standards for UK households, but even BP’s £7 billion in profits last year seemingly aren’t enough for super rich investors like Elliott.
They continued: "This profit obsession is why the fossil fuel industry will never be able to decarbonise itself, let alone do so in a way which meets the needs of working people. We need public green energy systems that prioritise communities over profit. The growing calls for a Fossil Fuel Treaty gives us the chance to move toward this in a globally coordinated way, for the public good.”
