Fifty of the world’s top fossil fuel companies have promised to eliminate emissions from their own operations by the middle of the century as part of a package of controversial pledges unveiled at a UN climate summit in Dubai.
ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, BP and Shell were among the companies to agree to set or tighten voluntary deadlines for emissions reductions, along with state energy companies Saudi Aramco and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. None agreed to reduce hydrocarbon production.
The companies, which represent about a third of global oil and gas production, also pledged to stop routine flaring of excess gas and to eliminate almost all leaks of methane, a potent greenhouse gas, by 2030.