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BP must move beyond petroleum as profits soar
7 February 2006
Following oil giant BP's announcement of full year profits of £12.8 billion today (Tuesday 7 February), Friends of Earth repeated calls for a windfall tax, and urged the Government to act to stop companies making huge profits on the back of climate change.
BP makes much of its commitment to tackling climate change, and last year announced a £200 million investment in energy efficiency measures, as well as commitments to solar and renewable power. But in 2004 the company invested $18.5 billion in the exploration and production of oil and gas.
Carbon dioxide emissions in 2004 from use of BP's products was 1,376 million tones according to the company's own calculations [1] more than double the emissions for the whole of the UK. A further 81.7 million tonnes of CO2 is generated by the company's operations [2].
Friends of the Earth Senior Corporate Accountability Campaigner Craig Bennett said:
The environmental campaign group also criticised the energy giant for its failure to operate to the highest standards in building the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline which is pumping oil and gas from Azerbaijan through Georgia to the Turkish port of Ceyhan [3]. Villagers living along the route of the pipeline, many of whom do not have access to oil or gas, complain that they have not received adequate compensation for the loss of land.
Friends of the Earth is calling on the Government to use the Company Law Reform Bill, currently going through Parliament, to introduce tougher requirements for companies to report on their environmental and social impacts [4]. It also wants the Chancellor to make use of the coming budget to introduce a windfall tax on oil companies who are reporting record profits on the back of the rising oil price, with the revenue invested in renewable technologies to heat and power public buildings.
Notes
[1] www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do? ¬
categoryId=9002336&contentId=3072043
[2] www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle.do? ¬
categoryId=9002335&contentId=3072045
[3] www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/corporates/case_studies/bp/index.html
[4] www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/corporates/press_for_change/ ¬
company_law_697/index.html
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jun 2008
