The clean energy claims of BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell: a mismatch between discourse, actions and investments

A study of BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell from 2009 to 2020 reveals a significant gap between the companies' increasing use of climate-related discourse and their actual financial investments, which remain heavily dependent on fossil fuels.

• While BP and Shell have significantly increased their use of terms like "climate", "low-carbon", and "transition" in annual reports, and all four companies have increased strategies related to decarbonization, these efforts are primarily characterized by pledges rather than concrete actions.
• Financial analysis indicates that the studied companies maintain a business model dependent on fossil fuels, with spending on clean energy remaining insignificant and opaque.
• The authors conclude that a transition to clean energy business models is not happening because the scale of investments and actions does not align with the companies' public discourse, making accusations of greenwashing appear well-founded.

APA

Trencher, G., & Asuka, J. (2022). The clean energy claims of BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell: a mismatch between discourse, actions and investments. Climate Social Science Network. https://cssn.org/the-clean-energy-claims-of-bp-chevron-exxonmobil-and-shell-a-mismatch-between-discourse-actions-and-investments/

Chicago

Trencher, Gregory, and Jusen Asuka. The clean energy claims of BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell: a mismatch between discourse, actions and investments. Climate Social Science Network, 2022. https://cssn.org/the-clean-energy-claims-of-bp-chevron-exxonmobil-and-shell-a-mismatch-between-discourse-actions-and-investments/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Trencher |first1=Gregory |last2=Asuka |first2=Jusen |title=The clean energy claims of BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell: a mismatch between discourse, actions and investments |publisher=Climate Social Science Network |date=19 February 2022 |url=https://cssn.org/the-clean-energy-claims-of-bp-chevron-exxonmobil-and-shell-a-mismatch-between-discourse-actions-and-investments/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{trencher2022clean, author = {Trencher, Gregory and Asuka, Jusen}, title = {{The clean energy claims of BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, and Shell: a mismatch between discourse, actions and investments}}, institution = {Climate Social Science Network}, year = {2022}, month = feb, url = {https://cssn.org/the-clean-energy-claims-of-bp-chevron-exxonmobil-and-shell-a-mismatch-between-discourse-actions-and-investments/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }