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INTERNATIONAL PETROLEUM WEEK SNUBS ENVIRONMENT

14 Feb 2000

Environmental concerns are off the agenda for International Petroleum (IP) Week, Friends of the Earth (FOE) reveals today. The oil and gas industry today starts a week long series of conferences, events and meetings in London [1].

But despite mounting concern over industry's role in the threat of global climate change and the recent terrible oil spill off the French coast not one of the numerous conferences and meetings are scheduled to deal with environmental issues.

As well as ignoring the environment, IP Week - which will be attended by more than 2,000 executives from industry, commerce and government - has invited Exxon's Chairman and Chief Executive, Lee R. Raymond [2] as “guest of honour” this Tuesday. He will discuss key issues facing the industry.

Exxon-Mobil, the world's largest oil company, has an appalling record on climate change.It:

• denies that burning fossil fuels is a major factor in climate change despite all evidence to the contrary[3];
• claims that climate change is exaggerated, not real, or too costly to deal with [4];
• funds the Global Climate Coalition (GCC), an industry-funded lobby group dedicated to stalling action to cut the emissions that cause climate change [5].
  
  Climate change is one of the biggest threat's facing the planet. The fifteen hottest years on record have occured since 1980, with last year the warmest on record in the UK. Last year a UN-sponsored scientific report on climate change warned that by 2080 climate change will put an additional 80 million people at risk from hunger; 450 million at risk from malaria,and many millions more from rising sea levels [6].
  
  Friends of the Earth also criticises the industry for the frequency of oil spills. This Friday (18 February) FOE will publish a report [7] called 'It Could Happen Here: what the UK must do in the wake of the Erika oil spill'. The report highlights the damage to populations of UK breeding birds and makes a number of criticisms of TotalFina over the episode.
  
  Liana Stupples, Campaigns Director at Friends of the Earth said:
  
  “It is depressing that the world's biggest oil companies can meet for a week long spree without discussing the environment. Climate wreckers like Exxon are a major threat to the planet. In the first year of the new millennium these companies should be looking to the future. Instead they invite the climate-wrecker-in-chief as a so-called guest of honour. Anyone in the industry genuinely concerned about the environment should be emmbarrased to be attending this disreputable event".
  
  

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] IP Week, 14-17 February, is organised by the Institute of Petroleum 020 7467 7100

[2] Lee R. Raymond, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Exxon Corporation is the Guest of Honour and Speaker at the Institute of Petroleum's Annual Luncheon. The Luncheon will be held from 12.30 - 14.30 hrs 14 February at The Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, W1.

[3] Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (1996) Climate Change - Second Assessment Report. Cambridge University Press

[4] Friends of the Earth Exxon-Mobil Briefing No.1., Exxon and Mobil Undermine Action on Climate Change, March 1999.

[5] The Global Climate Coalition (GCC) is made up of companies and trade associations representing more than 230,000 firms in the fossil fuel, automotive and energy-intensive industry sectors mainly in the US. DaimlerChrysler recently followed in the footsteps of Ford,Shell and BP in quitting its membership. ExxonMobil remains in the GCC.

[6] Climate change is predicted to have widespread damaging effects on agriculture, water resources, ecosystems and result in the spread of infectious disease. Studies published in Global Environmental Change 9 (1999) predict that by the 2080s:

• An additional 80 million people will be at risk of hunger due to climate change. Africa is expected to experience marked reductions in yield, decreases in food production and increases in the risks of hunger as a result of climate change.
• Five times more people will be at risk from flooding due to sea-level rise from climate change. The most vulnerable areas are the southern Mediterranean, Africa, South and South-east Asia where there is a concentration of low-lying populated deltas.The Caribbean, the Indian Ocean Islands and the Pacific Ocean small islands may experience the largest relative increases in flood risk.
• An additional 450 million people will be at risk from malaria due to climate change

[7] Available from the FOE press Office

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