Major oil companies are accused of abandoning climate pledges to justify continued fossil fuel expansion.
A new report by Clean Creatives analyzed over 1,800 campaigns from BP, Shell, ExxonMobil, and Chevron between 2020 and 2024. Early messaging emphasized net zero goals and clean energy transitions. By 2023, the narrative pivoted sharply-framing oil and gas as “permanent, indispensable,” and critical to economic and national security.
BP scaled back renewable ambitions while defending oil and gas growth. Chevron replaced its “Human Energy” branding with nationalist appeals linking domestic production to security. Shell downplayed fossil fuels’ climate impact and now touts liquefied natural gas (LNG) as a long-term growth market.
All four firms increasingly promote LNG, carbon capture, blue hydrogen, and biofuels as climate solutions-despite limited scalability or fossil fuel origins.
“The speed of the shift to energy-security messaging correlated with financial performance,” the report notes. ExxonMobil and Chevron led this pivot-and the market.
Experts warn this isn’t denial-it’s disinformation: reshaping public perception to make fossil fuel expansion appear necessary and responsible.
At last year’s COP30 in Belém, fossil fuel phaseout language was removed from the final agreement. Seventeen of the top 20 global emitters are state-controlled firms from nations that blocked the transition roadmap, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, and China.
Meanwhile, Middle East conflict drives oil prices higher, with groups like 350.org urging G7 windfall taxes on profiting oil majors.