A Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty would help rein in oil companies that are exploiting people and the planet while reaping record profits, says veteran Canadian climate and energy campaigner Tzeporah Berman.
“We can’t rely on the fossil fuel industry to break business as usual, especially one that delivers unthinkable profits for the industry while the rest of us reel from the ripple effects of high fuel prices,” writes Berman, chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative and international program director at Stand.earth, in an opinion piece for the Guardian.
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Recent global events—the pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and supply chain disruptions, to name a few—are driving a global energy crisis that is contributing to the worst inflation in four decades and a looming recession. Household budgets are straining under high prices for energy, food, and other products, while oil companies are cashing in. Colossal fossil ExxonMobil’s second quarter earnings this year reached US$17.85 billion—four times higher than last year—while Shell posted profits $11.5 billion above its previous quarterly high, and Chevron reported $11.62 billion.
The numbers are staggering, but they’re just an extreme example of a decades-long trend, Berman says. According to an analysis last month based on World Bank data, the global oil and gas industry has enjoyed average profits of $2.8 billion per day for the past 50 years.
“The obscene profits of the fossil fuel industry are jarring when set against the many households currently struggling to afford basic heating, cooling, and food needs,” Berman writes.
Oil companies are defending their incomes by playing up their investments towards “increasing energy supplies to help meet the challenges facing global markets,” as Chevron CEO Mike Wirth maintained in a recent statement. But that money has strongly favoured the continued expansion of profit-wringing oil and gas production. Only 1% of their budgets are spent on renewable energy development that could alleviate the current global energy crisis and decarbonize grids, writes Berman.
The deployment of wind and solar capacity is “not happening fast enough because there is currently no mechanism to counteract the tax breaks, fossil fuel subsidies, and delay tactics that are distorting the markets,” she adds.
Instead of climate policies that rely on market forces to increase the cost of using carbon, Berman calls for stronger policies to counteract the intoxicating profits that drive oil companies to maintain business-as-usual production.
“There is an urgent need for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty to end the expansion of oil, gas, and coal, phase out existing production to limit warming to manageable levels, and accelerate a fair energy transition where wealthy, fossil fuel-producing nations lead and support other countries so there is affordable, clean energy from sun, wind, and water for everyone,” she says.
