The London-based oil giant BP announced on Tuesday that it hauled in $2.8 billion in profit during the second quarter of the year. This announcement comes as the world faces the dire consequences of the fossil fuel industry’s business model, manifested through record-shattering heat, devastating wildfires, and other extreme weather events.
BP’s second-quarter profit not only surpassed analysts’ expectations but also brought its total profit for the first half of 2024 to an impressive $5.5 billion. Alongside this financial windfall, BP declared a 10% increase in dividends and expanded its stock buyback program. Additionally, the company gave the green light for a new drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico, expected to produce 80,000 barrels of crude oil daily. This move flies in the face of international scientific consensus, which states that new fossil fuel production is incompatible with the critical warming targets outlined by the Paris Climate Accord.
Chiara Liguori, senior climate justice policy adviser at Oxfam Great Britain, expressed her frustration, stating, “The world can no longer afford fossil fuel companies putting short-term profits above people and planet. It is inexcusable that BP, one of the world’s most polluting and profitable fossil fuel companies, continues to rake in billions of pounds while low-income countries are in urgent need of funds to tackle the devastating impacts of the climate crisis despite doing the least to cause it.” Liguori emphasized that while the costs of inaction are already visible through deadly heat waves, wildfires, flooding, and drought, it is people living in poverty who are paying the highest price.
BP’s profit report came weeks after the company, now under the leadership of CEO Murray Auchincloss, announced a strategic pivot. The company decided to pause new offshore wind projects and instead put a fresh emphasis on oil and gas, a move driven by investor discontent over its energy transition strategy. This shift marks a significant retreat from the company’s previous commitments to reduce oil and gas production.
Meanwhile, extreme weather driven by the burning of fossil fuels continues to wreak havoc globally. “As global temperatures spiked to their highest levels in recorded history, ambulances were screaming through the streets of Tokyo, carrying scores of people who had collapsed amid an unrelenting heat wave,” wrote Sarah Kaplan of The Washington Post. She continued, “A monster typhoon was emerging from the scorching waters of the Pacific Ocean, which were several degrees warmer than normal. Thousands of vacationers fled the idyllic mountain town of Jasper, Canada ahead of a fast-moving wall of wildfire flames.”
Kaplan noted that by the end of the week, which saw the four hottest days ever observed by scientists, dozens had been killed in raging floodwaters and massive mudslides triggered by Typhoon Gaemi. Half of Jasper was reduced to ash, and about 3.6 billion people around the planet endured temperatures that would have been exceedingly rare in a world without burning fossil fuels and other human activities, according to an analysis by Climate Central.
Izzie McIntosh, a climate campaigner at the UK-based advocacy group Global Justice Now, condemned BP’s “mammoth profits” as coming “at the expense of our climate, communities, and the Global South facing the most brutal impacts of a climate crisis they did not cause.” McIntosh urged the newly elected Labor government to take decisive action, stating, “Labor has made some promising signals about a move toward green energy—it now needs to throw its weight behind tackling the rampant profiteering of oil and gas companies. It can do this by introducing a windfall tax and other measures to fund the UK’s contribution to a globally just fossil fuel phaseout that works for workers and communities in the UK and around the world.”
The socio-economic consequences of the climate crisis are starkly evident. While the financial gains from continued fossil fuel exploitation benefit a few, the global majority, particularly in low-income countries, suffer the severe impacts of climate change. The immediate financial and human costs of extreme weather events are borne disproportionately by those least responsible for the crisis.
Political and policy responses are crucial in addressing these inequities. Democratic leaders and climate advocates are pushing for robust measures to counteract the influence of fossil fuel giants like BP. The reintroduction of the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act by Senate Democrats aims to restore critical safeguards of the original Voting Rights Act, which could play a role in ensuring that climate justice remains a priority in policy-making.
Reflecting on the current climate crisis and the role of fossil fuel companies, Chiara Liguori remarked, “The immense grief over the loss of lives and the destruction caused by climate-induced disasters cannot be overstated. It is imperative that we hold these corporations accountable and push for a rapid transition to sustainable energy. Our future depends on it.”
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