New effort to reshape fossil fuel firms approach to climate change

The heat is on for fossil fuel companies in more ways than one with the launch of a major new initiative to build stronger leadership by oil, gas and coal companies on climate change.

The 'Heat Is On' initiative is guided by a Senior Advisory Panel made up of former and current leaders from industry, government, international organisations and civil society including Lord John Browne (executive chairman of L1 Energy and former ceo of BP), Connie Hedegaard (former EU Commissioner for Climate Action), Prof Dame Julia King (member of the UK's Committee on Climate Change and former senior Rolls-Royce executive) and Sir Mark Moody-Stuart (former chairman of Shell and Anglo American)

It is led and co-ordinated by Critical Resource, an advisory firm supporting responsible practices in the extractive industries.

Critical Resource says that the goal of the initiative is to enable oil, gas and coal companies to play a meaningful and important role in helping the world to limit global mean temperature rise to 2 °C above pre-industrial levels, the internationally-accepted policy goal. The initiative is a quest for ‘big ideas’ on how the industry can transform itself to operate profitably in carbon-constrained world, it maintains.

The first phase of the initiative will involve a period of engagement and dialogue with senior industry executives and independent experts to develop ideas for practical changes the industry can make.

The results of this first phase will be published in advance of the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris later this year.