A recent global review challenges the narrative that oil and gas companies are genuinely transitioning to cleaner energy. Many projects they promote, like hydrogen hubs, biofuels, and carbon capture, may actually extend the fossil fuel economy rather than reduce it.
Researchers from ICTA-UAB and the University of Sussex studied 48 international environmental conflict cases. They found that these initiatives often fail to meet climate goals. Instead, they deepen environmental injustices and strengthen the power of companies that contribute to the very crisis they claim to solve.
The Reality Behind Marketing
Oil and gas companies often rebrand their operations as partners in green energy while postponing the necessary phase-out of fossil fuels. By linking new low-carbon projects to existing facilities, they can justify keeping their older, polluting assets in operation for years.
One glaring example is the proposed H2Med pipeline from Barcelona to Marseille. While marketed as a hydrogen project, it could also transport natural gas, allowing outdated infrastructure to continue functioning under a green facade.
Real Impact on Climate Change
For these technologies to genuinely help, they must replace, not just add to, fossil fuel extraction and combustion. According to Marcel Llavero Pasquina, we should measure the environmental performance of these companies by the fossil fuels they leave untapped, not by the initiatives they present as sustainable. Many so-called solutions, like “blue” hydrogen reliant on fossil fuels, often exacerbate resource depletion and environmental damage.
Social Costs of Private Gains
The researchers highlight that these projects frequently result in air pollution, land displacement, and damage to traditional livelihoods, especially affecting marginalized communities in the Global South. Public funding often fuels projects that do little to address climate change, enriching private companies while shifting social and ecological costs onto the community.
Projects that promote biofuels, for example, can lead to deforestation and food shortages. This only intensifies existing disparities faced by Indigenous peoples and vulnerable populations.
New Alliances, Old Power Dynamics
The research also shows how fossil fuel companies are increasingly tied to other high-emission sectors like agriculture and aviation. This dependency strengthens their influence across multiple industries, making it harder to break free from fossil fuel reliance.
Llavero-Pasquina points out that portraying these companies as part of the solution helps them maintain legitimacy and avoid significant changes that threaten their power.
False Solutions That Delay Progress
Freddie Daley, a research associate, argues that these misleading solutions are strategic moves by the fossil fuel industry to prolong their dominance. They create a false sense of progress while preserving the old extractive system, which is costly for our climate.
To truly meet climate commitments, governments need to stop treating delays as innovations. They should hold companies accountable for old practices dressed in green.
Growing Resistance and the Need for Change
As communities resist these false solutions, the authors warn that integrating them into public policy could hinder real transformations. We need a shift toward clean energy, reduced demand, and community-led initiatives that rectify past harms.
Solutions That Work
The study calls for stricter regulations on technology. Any low-carbon project must significantly reduce reliance on fossil fuels. Carbon capture should be associated with the end of fossil fuel extraction, while hydrogen must come from renewable sources, not natural gas. Biofuels should meet strict environmental and social justice criteria, and offsets cannot replace real emissions reductions.
Rethinking the Transition
If fossil fuel companies continue to dictate the terms of the energy transition, the world risks depleting its carbon budget while mistaking motion for progress. By prioritizing phase-out timelines and social equity, professions in energy can shift from being part of the problem to part of the solution.
The authors emphasize that it’s crucial to reinterpret the roles of these companies and the technologies they promote now. Failing to do so could mean allowing those most invested in fossil fuels to continue to dominate the transition.
This research appears in the journal Energy Research & Social Science.
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