Monthly Archives: October 2022

Going Green and Still Pumping Oil? The Challenges of Climate Change and Potential “Solutions” For Fossil Fuel Producers

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October 19, 2022
by Hank Boerner – Chair & Chief Strategist, G&A Institute

We were thinking the other day about the enormous challenges posed by climate change to our global society — and therein of the challenges of meeting the ambitious goals being set by governments, the private sector, and investors to achieve “a net zero economy” by mid-century. That’s not so far away.

And so the pumping of tens of millions of gallons of crude oil every day by OPEC countries and other nations (like the U.S.A.) to meet the insatiable demands of society is not helping in the short term.  But we need the oil!

Not so far back the United States was a very different country (meaning, at the end of the 19th Century). Not so dependent on “oil” from below the ground (yes, we did rely on kerosene lamps and before that whale oil!)

The majority of people lived outside of cities, mostly on farmlands and ranches and wilderness places. Horses and boats provided the main means for transport of people and goods. (Remember stage coaches and canal boats towed by mules?) Homes were heated by wood and coal fuels.

Coming into their own in the early 20th Century: miracle developments like electric power, telephony, radio, gasoline-powered cars & trucks, powered flight, modern chemicals, modern medicines. And people were moving en masse to rapidly-expanding cities and the newly-identified “sub-urban” communities.

One such place was Queens County, New York, where some of the G&A team live and work or grew up in (today home of JFK International).  After World War One ended, 100,000 people a year (!) moved in to the new suburbs, rapidly replacing farms that dated back to Dutch settlement in the 1600s.

After World War Two ended, neighboring Nassau County (where some of us live and work today) saw the same growth pattern – in just four years “Levittown” replaced the sprawling farmlands of the former Island Trees (NY) on the largest prairie in the Eastern U.S.. (That was the Hempstead Plains.)

Which required more railroads and roads for autos & trucks to move commuters to city-center offices and factories. And so, more more more drilling for oil & gas and mining of coal.

All of this dramatically changed how Americans today live, work, and play, and s0 many aspects of our family and business lives. The same things were happening in Europe, the British Isles, Japan, and many other places.

And here we are in the 21st Century enjoying the fruits of all of this progress and at the same time trying to undo the negative sides of the sweeping progress made over the past 125 years or so.

To put some of this change and resulting challenges in perspective: TIME magazine had an essay recently about Saudi Arabia, its state-owned oil company (Saudi Aramco) and the ambitions of the world’s leading oil exporting sovereignty to lean toward green while still pumping 12 or more millions of gallons of oil per day (to help meet global demand of 100 million BBLs a day!).

Today, Saudis talk of the dreams of carbon capture, of moving to hydrogen power for autos, of building a new “green” city (NOEM) from scratch.  The Saudi goal is Net Zero emissions) by 2060!

The dreams include the desert blooming with new green (cities)…and yet that Saudi oil keeps moving to distant points on Earth through pipelines and on oil tankers. Missing: the plan to reduce oil & gas production by 2030.

To help companies around the globe to meet ambitious 2030, 2040, and 2050 (net zero!) goals. Challenging. 

To contrast the astonishing changes of the recent decades: The Saudi Arabia we know today as a top oil & gas producer was a desert kingdom populated by Bedouin tribes and often shown on maps as “the Empty Quarter”.

Discovery of oil reservoirs changed all of that – today the kingdom has a Sovereign Wealth Fund (the SWF is the Public Investment Fund) with US$600+ billion and more in treasury thanks to oil & gas pumping and invests in many publicly -traded companies like Netflix (so dependent on fossil fuels to ever more power servers!).

About the impacts of climate change and the inherent challenges of our present society to achieve solutions – we see the story-telling of this everyday now in our favorite media!

Our editors and G&A team members carefully track and curate the coverage for you in the issues of our Highlights newsletter and here in our G&A Institute Sustainability Updates blog.

In our newsletter we regularly feature many news and feature stories about the efforts of public and private sector organizations taking actions to protect the planet and help the global society achieve a sustainable (and livable) planet in the decades ahead.

That’s the good news we try to share.  At the same time, as we think about the world’s progress from wilderness1800s to dramatic changes of the 1900s and into challenges of the 2000s and the negative aspects of progress…we cheer on the strategies, policies, actions, actions of leaders of organizations in the capital markets, corporate community, activist organizations, multilateral organizations, and more to address climate change challenges.. 

Ah, to save the planet while still making progress – that’s the ambitious goal of so many now.  After all, there is no Planet B for we, the billions on Earth (at least not yet).  

Top Story:

We bring you the fascinating story of Saudi Arabia and its plan to go green while remaining the world’s number one oil exporter over the coming years: https://time.com/6210210/saudi-arabia-aramco-climate-oil/

And a personal note:  A  durable book that has been around telling the story of the first half of the 20th Century (since 1952) may be of interest to you. This is “The Big Change, American Transforms Itself, 1900-1950” by Frederick Lewis Allen. He was the long time editor of Harper’s Magazine and authored such books as “The Lords of Creation” (about key capitalists like the Rockefellers, Morgans, Vanderbilts, and other of the Gilded Age wealthy). 

Highlights of Climate Week NYC 2022

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by Lauren Snyder, Ph.D., Sustainability Analyst at G&A Institute

“Global Citizen Festival NYC” featured big-name musical artists to cap the 14th annual Climate Week NYC, a week of multi-stakeholder events focused on climate change in New York City.

Climate Week NYC brought together leaders, decision-makers and activists from government, civil society, and the private sector for discussions, encouragement and collaboration on how to keep the climate issue at the top of political and business priorities.

Organized by Climate Group, the week featured a variety of in-person, hybrid and virtual events all focused on a call-to-action of “getting it done.”  The opening ceremony, began by setting the current geopolitical contexts for the need to deliver on promises made, which was followed by Hub Live, bringing together over 1,000 voices in the climate space to collaborate, share ideas and promote workable solutions.

This year’s Climate Week revolved around ten themes: the built environment, energy, environmental justice, transport, sustainable living, finance, industry, nature, policy, and food.

Beyond these events, many others were held alongside the main New York City-based events. Climate Week NYC is scheduled each year to run concurrent with the opening week of the UN General Assembly. This year Climate Week included a 90-minute, high-level “SDG Moment” session, designed to keep focus on the 17 SDGS.

For those unable to attend the in-person events, the hybrid and virtual ones emphasized two key themes. A panel of journalists on the second day focused on the question:  “Are we looking up? Climate communications at a pivotal moment”, highlighting the need to move away from the alarmist nature of climate communications to one that focuses on “co-benefits.”

Rather than storytelling, for example, one presenter noted the need to shape climate change conversations to reach as many people as possible. In this example, energy opportunities that advance cheaper, reliable fuel supply can help to convince even climate skeptics who might oppose the usual climate-speak ideas.

The theme of spelling out the “co-benefits” also percolated in a public sector-oriented session: “The Paris Agreement and the Ambition We Need.” This session included Environment ministers from various countries such as Canada and the Maldives.

The Minister from Canada stated it is “vital to sell the dream,” to show that current solutions and technologies are available to make a difference in mitigating and adapting to climate change.

The ministers presenting also emphasized the need for granular data and transparency – a theme that also could be found in the two opening ceremony  events – “Climate in the Geopolitical Context of Today” and “The cold truths for a warming world: what’s stopping us from ‘Getting It Done”?

Some of the more promising events for businesses were held in-person, including “Corporate Disclosure: Understanding Investor Perspective on Climate Risk sponsored by Agendi; others were organized by Morningstar, Sustainalytics, and The Wall Street. Journal.

The panel on “Preparing for the SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rule” provided interesting comparisons between the TCFD-based rules already implemented in the United Kingdom and the proposed SEC rule that will require companies to disclose climate-related risks and actions they will take to mitigate them.

While the multitude of events was overwhelming for some, everyone could find a topic of interest during the week-long series of sessions. While there was a lot of talking, presenting and chatter, these events do inevitably excite, encourage stimulating debates, and allow for exchange of ideas. The true test in the end for actions to be taken will be judged in the weeks and months to come.

The next climate summit (COP27) gathering is less than two months away, where world leaders, NGOs and private business decision-makers will gather for further climate action. The goal of keeping the 1.5C limit “alive” – this, the temperature threshold needed to avoid the worst climate catastrophe — does at times seem like a dream. The act of making that dream a reality depends on all of us — and perhaps was the most salient point of Climate week NYC 2022.

About the Author

Dr. Lauren Snyder joined G&A Institute in May 2022 as a Sustainability Analyst. She previously worked at the United Nations Global Compact Environment and Climate team where she launched a high-level external newsletter to promote corporate engagement on all aspects of climate change. Dr. Snyder also co-led with Accenture on the CEO Study on Sustainability “Climate Leadership in the Eleventh Hour.”

A native of South Korea, Dr. Snyder came to the U.S. as a child. She obtained her B.A. in German Literature and Linguistics from New York University and lived in Germany and Sweden for two years as a part of her undergraduate studies. Lauren also holds a master’s and Ph.D. in International Relations from the London School of Economics.

Dr. Snyder also holds a master’s degree in Public Administration and Sustainability from the Marxe School of International Affairs and Public Administration at Baruch College.

Dr. Snyder resides in New York City and enjoys time spending with her daughter. She also enjoys singing, theater and tennis. Although Dr. Snyder is legally blind, her disability does not stop her from achieving her goals.