Archived press release

Foe tells exxon boss "stop blocking action on climate change "

15 February 2000

Photo Opportunity
11:45 am, Tuesday 15 February 2000
Outside Dorchester Hotel, Park Lane, London W1
Friends of the Earth (FOE) campaigners, with “wanted” posters, will be outside the Dorchester Hotel where Lee Raymond, Exxon's Chief Executive, will be giving a keynote speech as part of International Petroleum week. FOE is calling on Mr Raymond and his company to stop blocking international action on climate change.

Friends of the Earth is today calling on ExxonMobil to stop blocking international action on climate change. Later today Lee Raymond, ExxonMobil's Chief Executive, will be in London where he will be Guest of Honour at International Petroleum Week's annual dinner [1]. Mr Raymond will be giving a speech on the key issues facing the industry.

Mr Raymond and Exxon have also been criticised in Parliament by East London MP Neil Gerrard who has tabled a motion expressing “serious concern and condemnation for the interventions of the Exxon Corporation and particularly Mr Raymond in blocking and delaying progress” during recent international negotiations on climate change.

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 [2];
• it claims that climate change is exaggerated, not real, or too costly to deal with [3];
• it funds the Global Climate Coalition (GCC), an industry-funded lobby group dedicated to stalling action to cut the emissions that cause global warming [4].

Climate change is one of the biggest threats 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 could put an additional 80 million people at risk from hunger; 450 million at risk from malaria, and many millions more from rising sea levels [5].

FOE is also critical of International Petroleum Week [6] - a week long series of conferences,events and meetings. 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.

Liana Stupples, Campaigns Director at Friends of the Earth said:
“Despite international agreement on the threat of global climate change,ExxonMobil continually obstructs efforts to urgently tackle the problem. Most other oil companies now accept that they will have to change. These companies must also make it clear to Exxon that wrecking the climate is no way to do business in the twenty-first century.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] 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.

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

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

[4] 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.

[5] 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

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

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust