BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 11. Upfront spending of around $600 billion is required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the oil and gas industry by 60 percent until 2030, Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said in his article, Trend reports.
"Emissions from oil and gas operations alone account for a considerable chunk of the global total. Taking oil and gas out of the ground, processing it and delivering it to consumers accounts for almost 1 percent of global energy-related emissions – that’s more than all the emissions produced by the United States or twice the emissions of the entire European Union. Our latest report shows how the oil and gas industry can reduce these emissions by 60 percent between now and 2030. This would require upfront spending of around $600 billion – much less than the trillions of dollars the industry accrued last year off the back of record high energy prices," he said.
According to the executive director, those oil and gas companies that have so far announced plans to reduce emissions from their operations, in fact, account for less than half of world production.
And many of the commitments made are vague or lack clear strategies to achieve them, especially for the crucial period between now and 2030, Birol said, noting that more ambitious targets, concrete plans and strong accountability are needed to achieve significant reductions in the oil and gas industry and beyond.
"The industry can and should reinvest some of those profits to help the world reach net zero emissions and keep the goal of limiting global temperatures to 1.5 °C within sight. The oil and gas industry today has the technologies, resources and expertise to cut emissions from its operations dramatically – and at relatively little cost," he added.