Big Oil spent 1 percent on green energy in 2018

November 12, 2018

By Ron Bousso

LONDON (Reuters) – Top oil and gas companies jointly spent around 1 percent of their 2018 budgets on clean energy, but investments by Europe’s giants vastly outpaced their U.S. and Asian rivals, a study showed.

Companies such as Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa), Total and BP (LON:BP) have in recent years accelerated spending on wind and solar power as well as battery technologies, seeking a larger role in global efforts to slash carbon emissions to battle global warming.

Investors in recent years ratcheted up pressure on boards of fossil fuel companies including Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM), the world’s largest publicly-traded oil company, to reduce emissions, spend more on low-carbon energy and increase disclosure on climate change.

But the transatlantic divide remains wide, according to CDP, a climate-focused research provider that works with major institutional investors with $87 trillion in assets.

“With less domestic pressure to diversify, U.S. companies have not embraced renewables in the same way as their European peers,” CDP said in a report.