The Climate Accountability Scorecard

The Union of Concerned Scientists developed a scorecard to assess eight major fossil fuel companies—including Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, ConocoPhillips, Peabody Energy, CONSOL Energy, and Arch Coal—on their climate responsibility. The methodology employs 30 metrics across four areas: renouncing disinformation, planning for a carbon-free world, supporting effective climate policies, and disclosing climate risks. The assessment focuses on the period from January 2015 to May 2016, utilizing public filings, corporate reports, and third-party data. Notably, the document states that no assessed companies met the standard required to be scored on the execution of their carbon-reduction plans.

• The scorecard focuses on eight investor-owned fossil fuel companies whose products are responsible for nearly 15 percent of industrial carbon emissions since 1850. These include five oil and gas companies (Chevron, ExxonMobil, BP, Royal Dutch Shell, and ConocoPhillips) and three US-based coal companies (Peabody Energy, CONSOL Energy, and Arch Coal).
• The assessment evaluates companies across four broad areas of climate responsibility using 30 specific metrics: renouncing disinformation on climate science and policy, planning for a world free from carbon pollution, supporting fair and effective climate policies, and fully disclosing climate risks.
• No companies in the sample met the necessary criteria to be scored on the execution of their carbon-reduction plans, as they failed to achieve both a positive overall planning score and a positive score in the 'company-wide specific commitments and targets' subsection.
• The study period for company policies and actions primarily spanned from January 2015 through May 2016, with some data sources for climate policy engagement extending back to January 1, 2014.

APA

Union of Concerned Scientists (2016). The Climate Accountability Scorecard. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2016/10/climate-accountability-scorecard-methodology.pdf

Chicago

Union of Concerned Scientists. The Climate Accountability Scorecard. 2016. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2016/10/climate-accountability-scorecard-methodology.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Union of Concerned Scientists |title=The Climate Accountability Scorecard |date=October 2016 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2016/10/climate-accountability-scorecard-methodology.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{unionofconcernedscientists2016climate, author = {{Union of Concerned Scientists}}, title = {{The Climate Accountability Scorecard}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2016}, month = oct, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/attach/2016/10/climate-accountability-scorecard-methodology.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }