subsidiary of Vistra Energy Corporation.7 Alpha Natural Resources merged
with Contura Energy, Inc.8
Since petitioners submitted the Petition with the Honorable Commission, a
number of respondents have included in their published statements expressing
support for the Paris Agreement. While a few respondent Carbon Majors showed
some improvement in their climate change commitment disclosure, many are still
not taking responsibility for the actual emissions from oil and gas products9 and the
human rights impacts resulting from climate change.
As observed, the information in majority of the respondents’ publications still
do not outline plans or actions that petitioners deem acceptable and adequate to
address the human rights implications of climate change. Some respondents do
include more detailed GHG reduction goals in their annual reports, but many do not
commit to an aggressive reduction from their products and operations within a
reasonable timeline.10 As a result, most respondents, if not all, focus on making
current processes efficient rather than planning for a transition out of fossil fuels.11
Notwithstanding the improvement in reporting climate change commitments,
it appears that respondents do not have adequate policies and procedures delineating
concrete plans on assessing, preventing, and remedying the human rights impacts of
climate change effects resulting from their businesses. Total appears to be the only
respondent that expressly recognized climate change as having negative impacts on
human rights.12
Vistra Energy, Operations, available at https://www.vistraenergy.com/operations/luminant/ (last accessed on 12
September 2019).
8 Bristol Herald Courier (10 November 2018), Contura Energy completes Alpha Merger, is listed on stock exchange,
available at https://www.heraldcourier.com/news/contura-energy-completes-alpha-merger-is-listed-on-stockexchange/article_7fa1024c-0bf3-555d-81dd-ca991c8f5fac.html (last accessed on 12 September 2019).
9 Muttitt, G. (20 May 2019), Shell’s Emissions Still Going Up Despite Accounting Device, Oil Change International,
available at http://priceofoil.org/2019/05/20/shell-emissions-still-going-up-despite-accounting-trick/ (last accessed
on 12 September 2019).
10 See e.g. BHP Billiton (2018), Annual Report, pp. 49-53, https://www.bhp.com//media/documents/investors/annual-reports/2018/bhpannualreport2018.pdf (last accessed on 12 September 2019);
ExxonMobil (2019), Energy & Carbon Summary, available at https://corporate.exxonmobil.com//media/Global/Files/energy-and-carbon-summary/Energy-and-carbon-summary.pdf (last accessed on 12 September
2019).
11 See e.g. Chevron (February 2019), Update to Climate Change Resilience, pp. 8-9, available at
https://www.chevron.com/-/media/shared-media/documents/update-to-climate-change-resilience.pdf (last accessed
on 12 September 2019).
12 “Climate change is a shared global challenge with negative impacts on ecosystems, development and human
rights. These negative effects tend to be disproportionately experienced by those who are already in vulnerable
situations, such as the elderly, women and children, and the poor.” Total S.A. (April 2018), Total Human Rights
Briefing Paper Update, available at https://www.sustainableperformance.total.com/sites/g/files/wompnd1016/f/atoms/files/total_human_rights_briefing_paper_update_publishe
d_april_2018.pdf (last accessed on 12 September 2019). BHP Billiton recognizes, in an attenuated manner, that
climate change may be a human rights issue by stating that, “[t]he commercial teams also inform broader
organisational priorities such as our position on climate change. This includes setting global standards for a
sustainable and ethical supply chain that takes into account human rights and environmental risks (see
https://www.bhp.com/-/media/documents/investors/annual-reports/2018/bhpannualreport2018.pdf, last accessed on
12 September 2019). An External Sustainability Advisory Group letter, included in ExxonMobil’s 2017
Sustainability Report Highlights, states: “Due to the possible negative impacts climate change poses to business
operations, human rights and economic development around the world, we urge further integration of climate
change into the core of ExxonMobil’s business strategy.” External Sustainability Advisory Group letter in
ExxonMobil 2017 Sustainability Report Highlights (2017), p. 6 (see
https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/en/~/media/Global/Files/sustainability-report/publication/2017-Sustainability7
Annex D: Corporate Statements on Climate Change and Human Rights |
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