Study of the evaluation index of international oil companies’ response to climate change

With the full implementation of the Paris Agreement, more than 120 economies around the world have proposed carbon neutrality targets through different forms of legislation, legal proposals and policy documents. Under the pressure of an increasingly severe internal and external environment, oil companies are gradually realizing that the low-carbon transformation of their enterprises is not only a demand of national policies, but also a necessary move to adapt to new market and social trends,which has prompted oil companies around the world to accelerate the pace of energy transformation. This paper constructs an evaluation index system for international oil companies’ response to climate change based on the three dimensions of attitude ("words"), behavior ("actions") and effect ("results") of international oil companies’ response to climate change, in which the average score of the positive sentiment tendency, the low carbon investment intensity, and the average rate of change of net carbon intensity are the most important evaluation indexes in the evaluation index system, and then quantitatively evaluates the comprehensive performance of 24 companies’ response to climate change based on the results of the evaluation. The results of the study show that: (1) In terms of attitudes towards climate change, Japanese Petroleum Company (INPEX), Eni Group of Italy, and EOG of the United States have the most positive attitudes. (2) In terms of climate change response behaviors,Colombian Petroleum Company (Ecopetrol), INPEX, and Eni are the best performers. (3) In terms of effectiveness in addressing climate change, Statoil, BP, and Total have shown the best results. (4) In terms of overall evaluation, Eni, BP, and Statoil have the best performance in climate change transformation. The above results highlight the efforts and achievements of international oil companies in addressing climate change. This paper aims to use the results to help oil companies better understand their current situation in addressing climate change, and to identify strengths and areas for improvement in their attitudes, behaviors and effectiveness. Finally, the paper analyses the reasons that may affect the ranking results of each oil company, and makes recommendations according to the different types of oil companies, as well as some recommendations for Chinese oil companies in the light of the form of China’s oil and gas industry. The findings of this paper can provide investors, policy makers and the public with effective information to help them make better decisions and choose to support environmentally friendly companies for investment or policy support, thus further urging oil companies to better realize the low-carbon transition.