Forthcoming Publish Your Plans handbook takes aim at the energy transition information gap
PWYP-US is excited to announce the upcoming launch of its new Publish Your Plans handbook, which will help shed light on oil and gas companies’ climate risks and empower advocates, policymakers, and citizens in fossil fuel-rich countries to hold companies accountable for addressing these risks in a prudent and responsible way.
The Publish Your Plans handbook will be released on Tuesday, June 27. PWYP-US will host a webinar to discuss the handbook’s recommendations and how the handbook can be used on Thursday, June 29 at 11:00am EDT.
Click here to request a copy of the handbook once it’s published and click here to register for the webinar.
In the last decade, investors have increasingly called for greater disclosure from companies about their climate-related financial risks. There is no sector where this type of information is more valuable than oil and gas: without shared information, companies are free to determine which oil and gas projects go forward without input from those that are most exposed to climate risk.
With the urgent need to address climate change and shift towards cleaner sources of energy, oil and gas companies have come under intense scrutiny. Global oil and gas production must drop significantly in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. Overall, the oil and gas industry’s response to the climate crisis, however, has been notable for its obstinance and deception. Despite the urgency of the moment, the fossil fuel industry plans to expand production over the next 20 years.
Doing so will be catastrophic for the planet, according to climate scientists. Despite this stark reality, oil and gas companies are misguiding governments, investors, and citizens about the prospects for wealth generation while downplaying or ignoring the considerable downsides of those investments. And they’re largely getting away with it, in part because those stakeholders don’t have adequate information with which to assess the climate risks of fossil fuel investments. This leaves stakeholders without valuable information on how companies decide whether new projects should go forward, the economic viability of future projects, and how a project’s potential emissions factor into the overall carbon budget.
Current approaches to corporate reporting on climate risk suffer from two main problems. First, most efforts to develop reporting guidance are too general, existing reporting frameworks do not fully capture the challenges and risk profile associated with oil and gas companies. Second, existing reporting frameworks have prioritized investors’ need for information without fully considering the needs of other stakeholders.
Policymakers and citizens of fossil fuel-dependent countries also need greater information about the national or local impacts of companies’ operations, and in some cases, the financial implications of projects that will no longer be viable in the future. In one estimate, over $1 trillion in oil and gas assets are at risk of becoming stranded – or unlikely to meet their anticipated return on investment – in the transition to low carbon energy sources. For countries that have historically been financially dependent on fossil fuels, this means the revenue-generating potential of future oil and gas projects is likely to be significantly lower.
Given the wide-ranging impacts of decreasing society’s reliance on fossil fuels, policymakers also need to prepare for the implications on employment, the infrastructure needed to facilitate low-carbon energy sources, and the cost of returning oil and gas projects to their original state. Citizens in resource-rich areas, civil society, policymakers, and shareholders are currently unable to determine the extent of these risks using existing disclosures from oil and gas companies.
Ultimately, citizens have a fundamental right to know the basis for their government’s economic decisions and the tradeoff between future revenues and climate impacts.
To address this information gap, PWYP-US’ Publish Your Plans handbook describes the specific disclosures needed from the oil and gas industry to ensure a successful transition to a sustainable energy system. Although the disclosures recommended by this handbook are relevant to all stakeholders, this handbook is primarily written for advocates and activists and explains how advocates can make a strong case for such disclosures with investors and policymakers.
Beyond advocating for the disclosure of much-needed information from oil and gas companies, the handbook also describes how disclosures can be used by different stakeholders. Specifically, information about oil and gas reserves provides valuable insight into a company’s future production plans and a country’s potential oil and gas supply. Additionally, greenhouse gas emission data allows users to better understand how oil and gas projects factor into the global carbon budget. These two examples are not only recommended by the handbook, but we are excited to share that these will soon become reporting expectations for EITI countries as part of the new 2023 EITI Standard, which will be adopted at the upcoming EITI Global Conference.
Increased disclosure of climate risk information from the oil and gas industry would enable a broad spectrum of stakeholders to make informed decisions in preparing for the energy transition. Policymakers charged with making decisions about their country’s energy future need adequate information to assess the risks and benefits of future projects, and ultimately, whether or not oil and gas companies are making sound decisions in determining which oil and gas projects will be developed. Citizens can play a critical role in holding companies and governments accountable for their actions and advocating for more ambitious climate policies and regulations.
As the world races to mitigate the impacts of climate change, transparency from oil and gas companies becomes increasingly vital. By adhering to the disclosure recommendations outlined in the handbook, oil and gas companies can demonstrate their commitment to a sustainable future and enable stakeholders to make informed decisions aligned with their environmental, social, and governance goals.
The Publish Your Plans handbook will be released on Tuesday, June 27. PWYP-US will host a webinar to discuss the handbook’s recommendations and how the handbook can be used on Thursday, June 29 at 11:00am EDT.
Click here to request a copy of the handbook once it’s published and click here to register for the webinar.