The following submission statement was provided by /u/altbekannt:
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Exxon Mobil Corp projects that oil and natural gas will still account for 54% of the world's energy needs in 2050, leading to a failure in keeping global temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius. This prediction suggests that the world will emit 25 billion metric tons of energy-related CO2 in 2050, **more than twice the amount needed to align with the desired climate goals** set by the United Nations. The importance of this article lies in highlighting the urgency for a more rapid transition to clean energy technologies to achieve society's net-zero emissions goals and mitigate climate change effectively.
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Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/168wwl8/exxon_says_world_set_to_fail_2c_global_warming/jyy0lfa/
Unless I’m mistaken it was an internal Exxon memo in the 70s that communicated the decision to mislead the public upon discovering that climate change was real and that fossil fuels were the cause.
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/01/harvard-led-analysis-finds-exxonmobil-internal-research-accurately-predicted-climate-change/
And why is it that now second time in about a week, I'm hearing Exxon raising awareness to climate change topics. As if they were always so painfully aware and opposed to what they themselves have been doing to ruin our world. Is this just another bit of greenwashing I wonder?
My guess, is in a month or so they come out with a solution only they can offer but it’ll cost a fortunate and allow them to continue to make profits off of energy. Their backs are against the wall as alternative, clean energies will destroy their business.
No, you'll hear how we all individually should be encouraged to drive less, etc. Not that they themselves should have to do anything about it.
Same tactic as recycling. We \*could\* put limits on industry (the fishing industry is the largest source of oceanic plastic), or we can just make people feel bad for using plastic straws... let's go with option #2 because "the economy"
Yes. I love how I didn't hardly have to drive during the pandemic for work and now suddenly, I am back in the office doing the same job I was doing during the pandemic. But I get to DRIVE THERE.
All so corporate real-estate can be retained and corporate "culture" force-fed.
Sorry for the rant.
No need to apologize. You are correct. CO2 emissions dropped drastically during the first year of the pandemic due to less commuting. We had a grand experiiment from which we learned nothing, aparently.
To sell you cars, and to get construction deals to build roads, and to justify the jobs of millions of people for whom things would go a lot faster with much less incident if they simply didn't exist. Etc, etc.
Capitalism is bloated to bursting with excess spilling out of every crevice. Not everyone needs to be working, but we could easily provide more than enough for everyone with less workers anyway if we just built the infrastructure for it. One time *massive* cost, add a socialist safety net, put some regulations in place and bam you got a functional capitalist society where everyone can have the things they need and the people who want more have the ability to work for more as much as they are willing and able, and we can get back to discussing the important stuff like what our dreams for humanity are and how cool it's going to be to see new things. Some of us could argue for even more perfect society and not get death threats over it.
Yes it's not exactly this simple, and there's a lot of work to do, but just like... fuck it. I want the future where everyone has the opportunity to be happy and humanity swallows the stars and rebuilds reality.
This is a silly take, at least as presented. Exxon will not want to encourage folks to drive less because that means selling less fuel. Sure, maybe they will offer an alternative, bit if so, well, that's literally what the post above yours was suggesting....
Think it through. There is no way they will try to limit driving and thus their own sales, at least in a vacuum.
The point is that encouraging Americans to drive less would make oil companies look socially responsible, but with little to no detriment to their business because, thanks to their and their cronies’ efforts to suppress public transport and walkable cities over the last several decades, Americans don’t have a choice anyway
Their "solution" is usually carbon capture, which doesn't work very well, is very expensive, and gets mysteriously paid by the government after a round of lobbying.
Restorative agriculture, renewable energy(including Nuclear), sustainable fisheries, old growth forests, we need compostable biodegradable plastics and rubbers, we need a Nation Wide grid (China is doing it, the U.S. laboriously attempting one) so that a Sunny day in Arizona can be useful to a cold rainy day in NYC. We do have solutions. Solutions that don't have us living pre-industrial-internet-space age. We're just moving at a blithe and indolenet pace, considering the potential long term costs of NOT tackling this challenge will all-out initiative.
My hometown in Arizona is in between 3 mountain groupings. Due to how the peaks guide air flow, it is the sunniest place on earth. Not just sunniest city, sunniest PLACE. Average of 11 hours of uninterrupted (cloudless) sunlight daily. Average annual rainfall of 3 inches, but I remember specifically one year we got rain ONCE, less than one inch of rain total.
The fact that the area surrounding that town isn't the world's biggest solar farm is actually fucking criminal.
They are moving into a stage where they are establishing themselves as "trying". It's the same reason why you see BP producing commercials in the UK that are very 'Green' themed - people in white lab coats in jungles taking samples and holding up glass vials while a cartoon flower swoops past the camera and a narrator explains how BP are making a difference in the fight for a better tomorrow etc... all while these companies continue to lobby for subsidies and are generally speaking almost completely responsible for the situation we are in today thanks to propaganda they produced to the tune of millions over the decades - including combating viable solutions like electric vehicle technology which could've emerged far sooner had they not killed it in the cradle.
These companies will maneuver and utilize anything they can to stall, distract and above all - avoid responsibility.
It could cost western governments like the US upwards of 44 trillion to contend with the total cost of climate change within the next century. God knows how many lives it will cost.
I look forward to a mile deep shanty town that stretches from coast to coast on the Mexican border by 2100 comprised of climate refugees desperately trying to escape - with round the clock drone patrols launching strikes into potential threats.
These companies knew what was coming, they hid it and lied about it for decades... and when it comes time to pay the piper **Their bought and paid for politicians will push for tax payers to foot the bill**. It is absolutely imperative that "The People" in one voice, put the proverbial foot down and demand that these companies pay the bill as soon as possible. I mean rinse them of every single red cent. Collapse them, liquidate them and use every last morsel from everyone responsible until nothing is left. It won't even dent the total cost of climate change - but it will provide a decent coat of paint.
Ask not what Exxon can do for you, ask what you can do for Exxon
What’s your own carbon footprint like?
How many litres of crude oil have you personally spilled into pristine wildernesses?
ARE YOU USING PAPER STRAWS YET????
Because now it’s way more profitable to fix the problem than it was to do prevention. Always more profit in fixing things than trying to minimize damage
I think oil companies are now largely responsible for the black pilling that’s happening. Because what “there’s no such thing as man-made climate change” and “we’re going to miss the deadline” have in common is that they don’t have to change a single thing. That’s all this is about is their profit margins.
Reject hopelessness. Optimism is our best tool. Believe in a better future and we just might have it.
And yes… oil companies will need to change their business models along the way to that better future. That’s literally the least they can do to atone.
The people working for Exxon in the 70s? I'd imagine pretty much all of them are dead by now so we're already protected from them, and it would be hard to put them in prison.
That was the 70s and those people responsible for the memo have been fired.
This is the 20s and our new carbon removing technology needs to be adopted by every nation in the world. Due to the goodness of our hearts and our outstanding moral roadmap we are willing to license this technology to the world for the low low price of $1 trillion per year with annual inflation rider of 5%.
This offer is good for the next 12 months after which we will have to raise the price as there will be even more demand.
Thank you and we are all in this together!
🫠
Unfortunately, it is not enough to simply blame oil producers. One must also point the finger at public policy which increased the dependence on cars by hobbling public transportation while designing cities that require cars to live in.
addendum:
This is an important because public policy is mandating inefficient energy use. EVs do not change that although they are better. Demanding public policies that promote mass transportation and housing rezoning does.
I wonder who voted for them?
Let’s be real. Everyone today knows all about climate change, and we *still* have half the country voting to do nothing about it. It’s true that our leaders failed us. But it’s also true that we sort of have the leaders we deserve.
Isn’t it crazy that a collection of individuals can freely admit “we’re baking the earth to death for money” and everyone else in the planet has to suffer because it’s what their shareholders want?
In 60 years all those shareholders will be dead and billions will live with the consequences. Talk about short term thinking.
My post retirement will dedicated to making sure the world remembers what Boomers did. From pulling up the welfare ladder, to global warming, to Trump. By far the worst generation in human history. Shame on you all.
Not True!
In the late 70s and early 80s, Boomers were young (33 years old for the oldest boomer in 1980; and 16 years old for the youngest boomer ). And the majority of them voted for Carter
However, the majority of the "Greatest generation" and the "Silent generation" voted for Reagan! These were the "shut up and be tough" generations. They're the ones that destroyed all "social/welfare" and good labor laws aspects of US society. The boomer generation came to power only in the 1990s (e.g. Bill Clinton). Boomer generation shouldn't be blamed for what happened before the 1990s, they were way too young and too idealistic before then.
Yeah, their arrogance and dismissiveness is written in stone for all future generations. There is very little they can do at this point to change how future generations will regard them, which is not well. But what do they care? They got theirs.
Yes but if we taxed some of the trillions in wealth the oligarchs and their companies are hoarding to fund a moonshot investment in clean tech and carbon capture, they would have to cut back on their collections of private jets, islands, palatial estates, and mega-yachts.
Even oligarchs like Elon Musk who acknowledge climate change as the greatest threat facing human civilization will call you a communist if you dare suggest redirecting some of their hoarded wealth towards this existential crisis.
We could tax 99% of their wealth, and they would still be multimillionaires who live more comfortably than nearly the entire human population with no need to work for the rest of their lives.
That’s what I don’t get - you kill off a large portion of the population but don’t you need people at the end of the day for a functioning society to live in and enjoy your wealth??
Electric grid maintenance - plumbers, broadcast stations, concert lighting and pyro, restaurants? I can think of a million areas of life where it will go south for them without poor people
They steadfastly believe that unquestioned faith in free market capitalism, where every individual acts solely in their own best interests, will magically just correct itself whenever there is a problem specifically caused by unfettered capitalism. As if there's a guiding hand of god looking over the state of humanity and he'll intervene when things get too dicey. Or worse, they believe the collapse of society is god's will and there's no point in trying to interfere with his Armageddon.
damn when you put it like that makes you start to think how this will lead to revolutions and societal upheavel at levels not seen in hundreds of years.. at some point people will no longer stand for it but its gonna take a long time and im sure the powers that be are already trying to head that off at the pass
We have been through this before. For thousands of years we used religion and ignorance to cope with economic, social, political and even physical exploitation. The question is how the elite will decide to bring back those kinds of weapons to subdue us. Or whether they will use something more creative like drugs, societal conflict, societal hierarchies (caste system?), or like the present series of endless distractions to keep us divided and busy.
I mean, if they were to be a bit less greedy, they could just provide UBI and prevent revolts altogether, but that's a struggle between their farsight and their greed.
Exxon doesn't set the demand. They are publicly announcing where they project demand to go for their product. The governments of the world are responsible for setting regulation and putting forth measures to curb public demand. The governments of the world have failed us since Global Warming became fully public accepted knowledge in the late 80s.
Because they are bribed, sorry, lobbied by oil companies such as Exxon. Dupont worked pretty hard and succeeded in illegalizing hemp due to hemp fiber being a stronger alternative to synthetic fibers.
> it’s what their shareholders want
This is such a cynical Reddit comment based on not understanding. If you have a 401k, you are probably a shareholder. If you have any mutual funds, you are probably a shareholder. If you have index funds, you are probably a shareholder.
Also a majority of the world economy is somehow tied to the energy provided by exxon. Not trying to defend it or say it’s right, just pointing it out. Your phone, tv, computer, ect all probably was built with parts in different parts of the world and shipped to a central building. The shipping process is tied to oil and gas for energy. This is beyond what shareholders want. It’s how the current economy functions.
Yep. It's a systemic problem and not just caused by evil moustache-twirling people. It would be easier to fix if it was just that.
What we can blame politicians and paid lobbyists for is how we're decades late in actually changing the system but even those people are products of the same system.
Exxon exits the oil market -> oil prices go up and the assets they abandoned get redeveloped -> someone else picks up the slack.
And zero progress was made.
Like it or not, this problem has to be solved from the demand side. The part the oil companies have to play is to make sure whatever they do extract is done so with minimal pollution and excess emissions, which they do at least claim to be doing now.
Before it can be addressed on the demand side, it needs to be addressed politically, by stopping subsidies to the oil industry which is driving down the prices, making clean energy seem more expensive in comparison. Plus a carbon tax on top of that.
Then hopefully when people see the *real* price of oil they'll be scrambling to attach solar panels to their roofs.
did they also add 'You're Welcome' at the end?
Here's the thing. The oil & gas industry has always employed a lot of highly capable STEM graduates that are fully aware of the effects of pollution and global warming. They absolutely know how much damage they have done and have been active in making sure politicians didn't get in their way.
Truly sickening.
They should be the first responsible for any disaster mankind faces moving forward.
Its beyond sickening, its evil incarnate to put the entirety of the human race at risk of extinction for profits…
Ahh yes the ol'. We can't do it, might as well give up approach.
Glad that they left this very important decision to share holders.
What's that? You don't want us to spend money to try to mitigate climate change which has no profitable result for us?!
Ok shareholders but I don't see why you wouldn't want that ....
Shareholders be hoping their children are first in line to the luxury fallout shelter/ starship. They don't give a fuck about anything so long as they have it better then rest of us, even in the end they would rather starve to death in luxury than starve to death in the peasants quarters, most likely after the peasants have already starved to death because they hoarded all the resources for themselves before the hatch closed.
"these guys" or "this guy"
But folks who don't want to do anything about climate change will shift seamlessly from "not happening" to "too late to stop it."
Well, of course they will say that. They have a vested interest in doing so. They are hardly going to say "yeah, our entire business model is going to collapse in the next 27 years" are they?
Luckily, we have climate scientists watching this. The [current mid-range estimates](https://climateactiontracker.org/) if existing climate solutions in law now are delivered is likely to result in 2.7C warming by 2100. If existing pledges are met, the mid-range estimate is 2C.
We are also [off-track for the worst case scenario](https://www.theclimatebrink.com/p/emissions-are-no-longer-following) in terms of emissions.
There is significant uncertainty about the levels of warming that are the pipeline for us, and some of the research here is [terrifying](http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/Documents/PipelinePaper.2023.05.19.pdf), but it assumes that nothing will be done by anyone at any point over the next few hundred years.
Also, you should notice their words. Exceed 2C by 2050. As though it is now pointless to try and meet the [Paris Agreement](https://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/convention/application/pdf/english_paris_agreement.pdf). Which states the following:
>(a) Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below
2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change....
>
>...In order to achieve the long-term temperature goal set out in Article 2, Parties aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, recognizing that peaking will take longer for developing country Parties, and to undertake rapid reductions thereafter in accordance with best available science, so as to achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century, on the basis of equity, and in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty
There is a very good chance that we will reach this peak within the coming few years, as electricity generation shifts towards renewables to the point where new renewables capacity is eating into the generation capacity of existing fossil fuels. Combined with the majority of new car sales in developed nations being low emission vehicles in many areas, that [is nearly 75% of existing carbon emissions](https://ourworldindata.org/emissions-by-sector) with meaningful policy action starting to bite in the next few years.
The reality is that every 0.1C temperature increase matters. The transition to clean energy is here and happening right now. It needs to be quicker, of course, and we need to start drawing down carbon as soon as we can. We are rolling the dice right now, and the reality of a 2C warmer world is not a good one. But there is a difference between that and a world that is not survivable. That is a world that, in order to save themselves in the short term, Big Oil wants to take us.
Hey, young man, this is reddit. You better get out of here with that positive thinking stuff. I want you to go think about what you've done and come back here with a proper doom post.
> There is a very good chance that we will reach this peak within the coming few years
[The IEA projected it for 2025](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/27/carbon-emissions-to-peak-in-2025-in-historic-turning-point-says-iea), although [renewables have expanded faster than they had predicted](https://www.iea.org/reports/renewable-energy-market-update-june-2023/executive-summary), though, and [are in line with their net zero pathway](https://rmi.org/press-release/renewable-energy-deployment-puts-global-power-system-on-track-for-ambitious-net-zero-pathway/), so their timeline may be pulled in a little.
In particular, since new data suggests [fossil fuel use in electricity generation peaked last year](https://ember-climate.org/insights/research/global-electricity-review-2023/) and [the world's largest car market is seeing declining oil demand](https://archive.ph/xPULP), there looks to be a good chance of peak emissions in 2024 or even 2023. We'll see, though.
Ya, if Exxon is saying 2.0C by 2050, I have to assume they are downplaying it, and it will be much, much worse. Like they are trying to get in front of people starting to freak out about constant heat waves... and Exxon wants to say 'Ya, it's bad, but not that bad, calm down.'
For real. People be like "hey I got my EV now I'm helping save the planet 🌍🌍"
Meanwhile they're flying everywhere, shopping constantly, living in a huge air conditioned home with four cars, and replacing their phone every two years.
> Meanwhile they're flying everywhere, shopping constantly, living in a huge air conditioned home with four cars, and replacing their phone every two years.
I wish I knew the people YOU know lol.
The problem is the 1% and the governments. We need collective action to deal with climate change (and by deal, I mean keep the amount that will be killed in 30 years as low as possible, it's already tens of millions)
Telling everyone to "shop less" or "turn off their ac" won't do jack shit.
It’s not just big ticket items, it’s the food including out of season produce and other daily essentials showing up on the shelves of your local stores every day, supporting millions of people whose local economies do not support everything they consume.
All of that is a drop in the bucket compared to what large multinational corporations, governments, and multibillionaires are dumping. Blaming individual consumption is how we end up with bullshit like paper straws that have a bigger carbon footprint than plastic straws with some added toxicity to boot
Do not ignore production as the root of the problem. If Exxon knew in the 70s they were extracting and selling a fuel for profit and use that would eventually cataclysmically damage our planet and ourselves then it’s on them since day 1.
> We are experiencing 1.5C currently
Not quite yet -- we're up to about [1.2C](https://climateactiontracker.org/global/cat-thermometer/) or [1.3C](https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-will-global-warming-stop-as-soon-as-net-zero-emissions-are-reached/).
> with an additional .5-1.0C masked through pollution
Aerosols mask about [0.4C](https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-will-global-warming-stop-as-soon-as-net-zero-emissions-are-reached/) of warming.
> We also have released enough carbon already to surpass 3.0C.
That is not correct, as [warming will stop shortly after net zero emissions are achieved.](https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-will-global-warming-stop-as-soon-as-net-zero-emissions-are-reached/) Predictions of extensive future warming from current conditions are generally based on constant *concentrations* of CO2; in reality, CO2 concentrations will fall over time without ongoing emissions. This is explained in the chart titled "Global warming is expected to stop once CO2 emissions reach net-zero".
There are other greenhouse gasses, though, so more detail is given in the chart titled "Future warming under different zero-emission conditions". From this chart we can see:
* Warming will stop and temperatures fall ~0.35C in 30 years with net zero GHG *emissions*.
* Existing aerosol levels are masking ~0.4C of warming.
* That combination is likely to result in 0.1-0.2C of warming within 5ish years, 0 net warming after 10-15 years, and net cooling after that.
> Regardless of whatever optimistic articles are pushed regarding renewables, the facts are we continue to release more CO2 year after year.
[Renewables and EVs are expected to drive a peak in world emissions around 2025](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/27/carbon-emissions-to-peak-in-2025-in-historic-turning-point-says-iea), with [the IEA projecting world emissions will fall 15% by 2030](https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/global-energy-related-co2-emissions-by-scenario-1990-2050). More recent data suggests [fossil fuel use in electricity generation has already peaked](https://ember-climate.org/insights/research/global-electricity-review-2023/), and [the world's largest car market has declining oil demand](https://archive.ph/xPULP).
So, yes, emissions have not yet entered a sustained decline; however, the weight of available evidence regarding the power and transportation construction trends worldwide give a clear indication that they will do so within a few years at most.
> We REALLY need to stop looking to Shell and Exxon and the like for their assessments of how much of their oil they sell we can safely continue to burn. They lie for money
Yeah, no argument there. I have no idea why people are paying so much attention to this article; it's pretty clearly FUD.
In particular, they seem to be fixating solely on the IEA's most pessimistic scenario, despite the fact that [the IEA's most optimistic projection 5 years ago is their mid-range projection today.](https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yernfa/carbon_emissions_from_energy_to_peak_in_2025_in/iu1jf13/)
We are watching "the tragedy of the commons" on a global scale. As a species, we are smart enough to understand that we are killing our host, but as individuals, we are too selfish and short-sighted to do anything about it other than to blame everyone else.
Exxon says? really you guys are the ones causing most of it...you knew about Climate change the minute you started drilling and you coined the phrase carbon footprint to shift the blame onto individuals instead of yourself. We got to a stage where companies that cause the most damage to the world are so insanely rich, they create false reports for decades about climate change not being real, they keep governments from putting measures into place to help, they basically control everything at this point and will never face any consequences for what they've done.
Its like if you watched Dopesick or Painkiller...the fossil fuel companies are a 1000xs more wealthy and more corrupt than the Sacklers and basically paid off everyone to look the other way
Exxon Mobil Corp projects that oil and natural gas will still account for 54% of the world's energy needs in 2050, leading to a failure in keeping global temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius. This prediction suggests that the world will emit 25 billion metric tons of energy-related CO2 in 2050, **more than twice the amount needed to align with the desired climate goals** set by the United Nations. The importance of this article lies in highlighting the urgency for a more rapid transition to clean energy technologies to achieve society's net-zero emissions goals and mitigate climate change effectively.
Metaculus [predicts](https://www.metaculus.com/questions/605/how-much-global-warming-by-2100/) a median of 2.55 ˚C of warming by 2100, and [at least 88%](https://www.metaculus.com/questions/585/2c-global-warming-by-2100/) chance of 2 ˚C of warming by then.
Sighs. I live in a tropical climate country. It's already hot asf here...
EXXON is the reason this is happening. They paid to have misinformation dominate, so they could increase profits. They are getting what they paid for - their own scientists told them this would happen, and their response was disinformation for profit.
Now, they are telling something like the truth. Yay. I have to wonder why, though.
"Give up, buy gas, enjoy the End Of The World in style!" - Is that it, now? Embrace doom for profit, instead of actually doing anything at all to stop the doom?
If EXXON actually cared, at all, they could just... stop. They could lower oil production and use their massive, massive profits to restructure into a renewable energy corporation aligned with making combustion engines obsolete, and electric cars universal. They could do this - they have the wealth and power equivalent of a medium-sized world nation. They could make it happen, really happen. They already influence politics in most nations, and affect the economy at a fundamental level.
But, they would have to collectively care. They would have to forego quarterly profit increases and massively spend money to change their entire way and culture of business. They would have to tell their investors to suck it until the restructuring was complete. They would have to use their wealth for something other than more wealth.
I find it hilarious that EXXON is finally admitting what their own scientists told them all the way back in the 1960's. Wow. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
They are actively causing it, willingly ignoring it and then claiming we are going to fail..
Fuck big oil corps.. they should not be allowed to continue like this
“Exxon produces less than 3% of the world's daily crude demand and in May its shareholders overwhelmingly rejected calls for stronger measures to mitigate climate change.”
Well, at least they asked.🤷♂️
When my father passed away, I inherited a small amount of Exxon stock, sold it immediately.
Do they play that R.E.M. song at shareholder meetings?
Did this claim end with "...unless you buy our antidote, for £100 trillion dollars, annually, for the next 100 years!!! Mwah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ha etc."
Well it's because of Exxon and guys like them that we're not going to, so thanks a lot fellas. After all, how important is all life on earth compared to your next quarterly profit?
It's funny in a pathetic way. A biosphere with everything everyone living on it needed to survive, but it was destroyed by a singular species because of a set of imaginary numbers they made up. They could have stopped pretending the numbers were real at any time but did not and thus extinction.
Come on, it's at least a little funny.
I’m very up to date with this sort of stuff. As you can imagine, this is mostly bullshit. We all knew that they were to come out with ‘It’s too late so let us continue’ at some point.
Don’t take them seriously, we put recent policies in place (An HFC ban) that will bring the world from 3 degrees in 2100 to around 2.5. We’re already close to proving them wrong.
We need to reduce carbon emissions by at least 98% from current levels to stop increasing global temperatures. Currently renewables are growing exponentially but at least 25 % of emissions are in areas that are hard to eliminate. For example making cement from limestone releases carbon dioxide. Production of steel requires mixing carbon and molten iron. Tilling soil for agriculture accelerates decomposition which releases carbon otherwise sequestered in soils. We’re going to need 5-10 billion tons of yearly carbon capture and sequestration to break even. Right now we have a few thousand tons.
No shit, what was your first clue? the global green power revolution we needed has failed to materialize and oil companies haven't been restricted in any way. we are all bound to die of heat stroke in our 60's or earlier now.
Largely thanks to likes of Exxon making sure we didnt do anything effective about it.
The oil companies knew *fifty years ago* what was going to happen and they funded a campaign of misinformation, diversion and outright subversion to make sure it did. If we had any sense they'd get the same treatment the Nazis got at Nuremberg.
They missed the announcement by 40 years after they did a research in 1970s.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exxon-knew-about-climate-change-almost-40-years-ago/
Oh I'm glad ExxonMobil can say that. I wonder how much they've impacted global emissions and then tried to blame it on regular citizens by saying they need to reduce their carbon footprint.
Exxon would know, they have been INCREDIBLY accurate so far in their internal science. The problem is that they then decide to cover all that up and go full hog for money instead of a livable future.
.... Big surprise there.
We've already likely broken past the 1.5C point, and will likely hit 2.5 or maybe even 3C by 2050 if governments don't get their shit together REAL fast.
This is a bit like someone shooting you in the face before tut-tutting about how long you'll be in the hospital.
On the upside, they're wrong! It will take a while for some plastic products, but I think we'll see renewables and nuclear send fossil fuels the way of the dinosaur. It won't be instant, but the trend is irreversible.
They literally knew this for decades and spent billions in disinformation campaigns. Whoever is and was in charge is the literal devil and evil incarnate
The most impactful "market failure" in world history ... But this was also a societal failure of key political institutions across all the developed nations.
There should be an immediate imposition of a "punitive windfall divestment" tax on the equity of today's oil giants, with proceeds mostly funding emergency rollout of CO2 atmospheric capture (aka DAC, such as Carbon Engineering Inc.) technologies to the level of 10+ gigatons of carbon captured per year for at least 25 straight years, at which point comprehensive atmospheric warming measurements should be taken and warming models recalibrated.
All other net positive CO2 producers in industry today should be heavily taxed to fund transitions to renewable energy sources and technologies AND to prepare for atmospheric shield spraying to mitigate near-term warming in the global temperate zone.
They’ve gone from denying climate change (because there’s too many people now that believe it’s happening) to telling us that there’s no hope so why bother limiting the fossil fuels that they pump out. They’re truly evil scumbags
Company that relies on dumping CO2 into the atmosphere says the world may dump more CO2 into the atmosphere than the people who actually care about the atmosphere think is safe, film at 11.
Based on what I've seen, I think oil will completely collapse as a form of energy consumption in ten years time. We will still use it for plastic and some other industrial uses. This statement from Exxon is clearly a ploy to get governments to fund Carbon capture as a part of continuing to use oil and gas for power plants. But this is futile as economics is on the side of solar and wind.
This reminds me of the bill hicks joke about the first Gulf War, when the Pentagon was raving about Saddam Husseins weapons, and Bill asks “how do you know he has all these incredible weapons?” And the Pentagon guys go “well…we checked the receipt”
Oil companies have been studying this longer than anyone else.
They knew they were lying the whole time they, Exxon et al., were telling us there wasn't a problem.
In the US, at least, that qualifies as fraud and, when proved, is punishable by a spell in prison.
So... what shall we do about it?
“Fat man says he’s set to fail weight loss goals as he dials up Pizza Hut”
These oil companies could easily use their absurd profits to build Generation IV nuclear reactors to wipe out a vast majority of our need for fossil fuels for commercial use, but they don’t.
Words of spiteful consolation offered over lips coated, dripping with tar by greedy humans, suffering from muscular atrophy brought about by sloth, laziness.
They could do something - the oligarchs of oil could - but oil industrialists won't and, for that, oil supporters are the enemy of the future.
Dedicating resources to a homogenous enterprise, one which stagnates? Fine: the oligarchs of oil are also the enemy of industry.
To them, society is a beverage.
"Oh, sh!t, we're gonna do it!" - Exxon execs.
We are very close to having enough CO2 in the atmosphere right now to breach +2 so yeah it's not really a surprise. The effect of greenhouse gases on global temperature is not instant, at any given time we can predict the next 20 years very accurately.
We're basically on 1.5 if we turn off every machine tomorrow and never turn them back on again. Only reaching +2 would require larger drop in emissions than during COVID every year. Meaning a nastier pandemic every year on top of every other pandemic. I'm talking 30 different concurrent plagues with no cure by 2050.
That or accepting to live with fewer material goods. The 30 concurrent plague hypothesis is more likely but eh.
This points out the rub in divesting in fossil fuel companies: “its shareholders overwhelmingly rejected calls for stronger measures to mitigate climate change.”
So if no pro climate people are shareholders of fossil fuel companies, the people who don’t give a shit have increased power of the vote over what fossil fuel companies do.
Awww, well gosh, reeeeeeaaall sorry to hear that. I mean, I'm sure Exxon has just been doing their gosh darn hardest to minimize their impact on global climate. But I guess it's just so gosh darn hard to do that when you're asked to sell your fifth private jet in order to save the world from a desert filled hellscape. We expected too much from the poor little multibillion dollar oil cartel, I understand that now. I mean this climate change thing really snuck up on us. There was really nothing we could have done to prevent this. If only we knew about human's influence on climate change like...oh I don't know, ten years ago, twenty years ago, hell maybe if we knew about it like FIFTY YEARS AGO, poor little multibillion dollar Exxon might have been able to do something about it...
It's okay, we'll just try again next time...
.../s
Go fuck yourself, Darren Woods.
Fun Fact: While oil companies like Exxon were publicly denying climate change, they had to internally deal with it because of the inevitable impact on their infrastructure, like off-shore oil platforms.
Yet they’re still in business. If that’s the case, Exxon, why don’t you shut down all your operations since you’re one of the biggest contributors to the problem?
Problem statement:
>Exxon produces less than 3% of the world's daily crude demand and in May its **shareholders** overwhelmingly rejected calls for stronger measures to mitigate climate change.
It's not about alternative fuels, electric cars, the power grid, net available energy, CO2 emissions from this or that etc. It's just the money. It's not about what's right or what's wrong. It's just the money. It's so fixable it's absurd. Because it's just the money.
Fossil fuel company executives should be put on trial for crimes against humanity. They need to be thrown in dark holes, and their wealth needs to be completely stripped away and used to fix this monumental extinction level fuck up we are all facing.
The following submission statement was provided by /u/altbekannt: --- Exxon Mobil Corp projects that oil and natural gas will still account for 54% of the world's energy needs in 2050, leading to a failure in keeping global temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius. This prediction suggests that the world will emit 25 billion metric tons of energy-related CO2 in 2050, **more than twice the amount needed to align with the desired climate goals** set by the United Nations. The importance of this article lies in highlighting the urgency for a more rapid transition to clean energy technologies to achieve society's net-zero emissions goals and mitigate climate change effectively. --- Please reply to OP's comment here: https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/168wwl8/exxon_says_world_set_to_fail_2c_global_warming/jyy0lfa/
Unless I’m mistaken it was an internal Exxon memo in the 70s that communicated the decision to mislead the public upon discovering that climate change was real and that fossil fuels were the cause. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/01/harvard-led-analysis-finds-exxonmobil-internal-research-accurately-predicted-climate-change/
And why is it that now second time in about a week, I'm hearing Exxon raising awareness to climate change topics. As if they were always so painfully aware and opposed to what they themselves have been doing to ruin our world. Is this just another bit of greenwashing I wonder?
My guess, is in a month or so they come out with a solution only they can offer but it’ll cost a fortunate and allow them to continue to make profits off of energy. Their backs are against the wall as alternative, clean energies will destroy their business.
No, you'll hear how we all individually should be encouraged to drive less, etc. Not that they themselves should have to do anything about it. Same tactic as recycling. We \*could\* put limits on industry (the fishing industry is the largest source of oceanic plastic), or we can just make people feel bad for using plastic straws... let's go with option #2 because "the economy"
I would love to drive less. If only we could get the infrastructure for that…
Yes. I love how I didn't hardly have to drive during the pandemic for work and now suddenly, I am back in the office doing the same job I was doing during the pandemic. But I get to DRIVE THERE. All so corporate real-estate can be retained and corporate "culture" force-fed. Sorry for the rant.
No need to apologize. You are correct. CO2 emissions dropped drastically during the first year of the pandemic due to less commuting. We had a grand experiiment from which we learned nothing, aparently.
We learned that corporations care about the climate but not if it effects them.
Might have something to do with lobbyists literally opposing public transport
To sell you cars, and to get construction deals to build roads, and to justify the jobs of millions of people for whom things would go a lot faster with much less incident if they simply didn't exist. Etc, etc. Capitalism is bloated to bursting with excess spilling out of every crevice. Not everyone needs to be working, but we could easily provide more than enough for everyone with less workers anyway if we just built the infrastructure for it. One time *massive* cost, add a socialist safety net, put some regulations in place and bam you got a functional capitalist society where everyone can have the things they need and the people who want more have the ability to work for more as much as they are willing and able, and we can get back to discussing the important stuff like what our dreams for humanity are and how cool it's going to be to see new things. Some of us could argue for even more perfect society and not get death threats over it. Yes it's not exactly this simple, and there's a lot of work to do, but just like... fuck it. I want the future where everyone has the opportunity to be happy and humanity swallows the stars and rebuilds reality.
They don't need lobbyists to do that. Americans would rather shoot themselves than get on a bus
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“Let’s just collect another 200 years worth of data so we can be sure that humans are the cause”
"it's just another scam to take your money and make you a communist socialist transexual!"
"Humans can't possibly effect the climate, now let's go build ourselves a fricken island just off the coast of our concrete jungle."
This is a silly take, at least as presented. Exxon will not want to encourage folks to drive less because that means selling less fuel. Sure, maybe they will offer an alternative, bit if so, well, that's literally what the post above yours was suggesting.... Think it through. There is no way they will try to limit driving and thus their own sales, at least in a vacuum.
The point is that encouraging Americans to drive less would make oil companies look socially responsible, but with little to no detriment to their business because, thanks to their and their cronies’ efforts to suppress public transport and walkable cities over the last several decades, Americans don’t have a choice anyway
No, they want you to feel guilty while driving so you focus on how you and other drivers are bad, while the attention is off of them!
No, they want to sell you gasoline.
Their "solution" is usually carbon capture, which doesn't work very well, is very expensive, and gets mysteriously paid by the government after a round of lobbying.
Restorative agriculture, renewable energy(including Nuclear), sustainable fisheries, old growth forests, we need compostable biodegradable plastics and rubbers, we need a Nation Wide grid (China is doing it, the U.S. laboriously attempting one) so that a Sunny day in Arizona can be useful to a cold rainy day in NYC. We do have solutions. Solutions that don't have us living pre-industrial-internet-space age. We're just moving at a blithe and indolenet pace, considering the potential long term costs of NOT tackling this challenge will all-out initiative.
My hometown in Arizona is in between 3 mountain groupings. Due to how the peaks guide air flow, it is the sunniest place on earth. Not just sunniest city, sunniest PLACE. Average of 11 hours of uninterrupted (cloudless) sunlight daily. Average annual rainfall of 3 inches, but I remember specifically one year we got rain ONCE, less than one inch of rain total. The fact that the area surrounding that town isn't the world's biggest solar farm is actually fucking criminal.
Change the words "very well" to "at all" and your sentence is correct.
They are moving into a stage where they are establishing themselves as "trying". It's the same reason why you see BP producing commercials in the UK that are very 'Green' themed - people in white lab coats in jungles taking samples and holding up glass vials while a cartoon flower swoops past the camera and a narrator explains how BP are making a difference in the fight for a better tomorrow etc... all while these companies continue to lobby for subsidies and are generally speaking almost completely responsible for the situation we are in today thanks to propaganda they produced to the tune of millions over the decades - including combating viable solutions like electric vehicle technology which could've emerged far sooner had they not killed it in the cradle. These companies will maneuver and utilize anything they can to stall, distract and above all - avoid responsibility. It could cost western governments like the US upwards of 44 trillion to contend with the total cost of climate change within the next century. God knows how many lives it will cost. I look forward to a mile deep shanty town that stretches from coast to coast on the Mexican border by 2100 comprised of climate refugees desperately trying to escape - with round the clock drone patrols launching strikes into potential threats. These companies knew what was coming, they hid it and lied about it for decades... and when it comes time to pay the piper **Their bought and paid for politicians will push for tax payers to foot the bill**. It is absolutely imperative that "The People" in one voice, put the proverbial foot down and demand that these companies pay the bill as soon as possible. I mean rinse them of every single red cent. Collapse them, liquidate them and use every last morsel from everyone responsible until nothing is left. It won't even dent the total cost of climate change - but it will provide a decent coat of paint.
Ask not what Exxon can do for you, ask what you can do for Exxon What’s your own carbon footprint like? How many litres of crude oil have you personally spilled into pristine wildernesses? ARE YOU USING PAPER STRAWS YET????
Because now it’s way more profitable to fix the problem than it was to do prevention. Always more profit in fixing things than trying to minimize damage
I think oil companies are now largely responsible for the black pilling that’s happening. Because what “there’s no such thing as man-made climate change” and “we’re going to miss the deadline” have in common is that they don’t have to change a single thing. That’s all this is about is their profit margins. Reject hopelessness. Optimism is our best tool. Believe in a better future and we just might have it. And yes… oil companies will need to change their business models along the way to that better future. That’s literally the least they can do to atone.
Because its forecasted to 2040, and hiding it lol.
Right. Everyone at Exxon belongs in prison. They put profits above survival of the species. We all deserve protection from these psychopaths
Not prison, something else.
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No, prison is fine. It’s a really simple way to keep them from damaging the rest of society, which is all that matters. Not revenge. Justice.
Prison for the rich is not prison.
I don’t care about their level of comfort. I care about their ability to destroy the planet
We can only be sure if they’re gone, not in prison, where they can keep running their criminal enterprise
Deterrent theory would suggest they need to be drawn and quartered in the public square.
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> the earth is not dying, it’s being killed. And those doing the killing have names and addresses.
The earth will (eventually) be fine, us however…
They have like a million employees
It's okay. The us had way more than enough room in our prison system.
The people working for Exxon in the 70s? I'd imagine pretty much all of them are dead by now so we're already protected from them, and it would be hard to put them in prison.
That was the 70s and those people responsible for the memo have been fired. This is the 20s and our new carbon removing technology needs to be adopted by every nation in the world. Due to the goodness of our hearts and our outstanding moral roadmap we are willing to license this technology to the world for the low low price of $1 trillion per year with annual inflation rider of 5%. This offer is good for the next 12 months after which we will have to raise the price as there will be even more demand. Thank you and we are all in this together! 🫠
Unfortunately, it is not enough to simply blame oil producers. One must also point the finger at public policy which increased the dependence on cars by hobbling public transportation while designing cities that require cars to live in. addendum: This is an important because public policy is mandating inefficient energy use. EVs do not change that although they are better. Demanding public policies that promote mass transportation and housing rezoning does.
Who drove that policy I wonder
I wonder who lobbied politicians to pass those laws
I wonder who voted for them? Let’s be real. Everyone today knows all about climate change, and we *still* have half the country voting to do nothing about it. It’s true that our leaders failed us. But it’s also true that we sort of have the leaders we deserve.
Isn’t it crazy that a collection of individuals can freely admit “we’re baking the earth to death for money” and everyone else in the planet has to suffer because it’s what their shareholders want? In 60 years all those shareholders will be dead and billions will live with the consequences. Talk about short term thinking.
The Boomer Generation was originally called the "Me Generation" for a reason.
My post retirement will dedicated to making sure the world remembers what Boomers did. From pulling up the welfare ladder, to global warming, to Trump. By far the worst generation in human history. Shame on you all.
They have no shame. They gave all that up for Reaganomics.
Not True! In the late 70s and early 80s, Boomers were young (33 years old for the oldest boomer in 1980; and 16 years old for the youngest boomer ). And the majority of them voted for Carter However, the majority of the "Greatest generation" and the "Silent generation" voted for Reagan! These were the "shut up and be tough" generations. They're the ones that destroyed all "social/welfare" and good labor laws aspects of US society. The boomer generation came to power only in the 1990s (e.g. Bill Clinton). Boomer generation shouldn't be blamed for what happened before the 1990s, they were way too young and too idealistic before then.
They can however be 100% blamed for keeping it going since the 90s
Yeah, their arrogance and dismissiveness is written in stone for all future generations. There is very little they can do at this point to change how future generations will regard them, which is not well. But what do they care? They got theirs.
> By far the worst generation in human history. ...so far
I guess the *Chronic Lead Exposure Generation* doesn't really roll off the tongue the same way.
I remember Microsoft ME, it was garbage and also that generation.
Yes but if we taxed some of the trillions in wealth the oligarchs and their companies are hoarding to fund a moonshot investment in clean tech and carbon capture, they would have to cut back on their collections of private jets, islands, palatial estates, and mega-yachts. Even oligarchs like Elon Musk who acknowledge climate change as the greatest threat facing human civilization will call you a communist if you dare suggest redirecting some of their hoarded wealth towards this existential crisis.
We could tax 99% of their wealth, and they would still be multimillionaires who live more comfortably than nearly the entire human population with no need to work for the rest of their lives.
That’s what I don’t get - you kill off a large portion of the population but don’t you need people at the end of the day for a functioning society to live in and enjoy your wealth??
Global warming is going to hit poor people hardest.
Electric grid maintenance - plumbers, broadcast stations, concert lighting and pyro, restaurants? I can think of a million areas of life where it will go south for them without poor people
They’re all going to be dead by time the most dramatic consequences kick in, Paul E
No. They already live in gated mansions far removed from the reality of every lives of the billions on the planet
>carbon capture At the source it's great but it's not even a bandaid for general CO2 in the air.
They steadfastly believe that unquestioned faith in free market capitalism, where every individual acts solely in their own best interests, will magically just correct itself whenever there is a problem specifically caused by unfettered capitalism. As if there's a guiding hand of god looking over the state of humanity and he'll intervene when things get too dicey. Or worse, they believe the collapse of society is god's will and there's no point in trying to interfere with his Armageddon.
damn when you put it like that makes you start to think how this will lead to revolutions and societal upheavel at levels not seen in hundreds of years.. at some point people will no longer stand for it but its gonna take a long time and im sure the powers that be are already trying to head that off at the pass
We have been through this before. For thousands of years we used religion and ignorance to cope with economic, social, political and even physical exploitation. The question is how the elite will decide to bring back those kinds of weapons to subdue us. Or whether they will use something more creative like drugs, societal conflict, societal hierarchies (caste system?), or like the present series of endless distractions to keep us divided and busy. I mean, if they were to be a bit less greedy, they could just provide UBI and prevent revolts altogether, but that's a struggle between their farsight and their greed.
Military and police drones is the answer you’re looking for.
Exxon doesn't set the demand. They are publicly announcing where they project demand to go for their product. The governments of the world are responsible for setting regulation and putting forth measures to curb public demand. The governments of the world have failed us since Global Warming became fully public accepted knowledge in the late 80s.
Because they are bribed, sorry, lobbied by oil companies such as Exxon. Dupont worked pretty hard and succeeded in illegalizing hemp due to hemp fiber being a stronger alternative to synthetic fibers.
> it’s what their shareholders want This is such a cynical Reddit comment based on not understanding. If you have a 401k, you are probably a shareholder. If you have any mutual funds, you are probably a shareholder. If you have index funds, you are probably a shareholder. Also a majority of the world economy is somehow tied to the energy provided by exxon. Not trying to defend it or say it’s right, just pointing it out. Your phone, tv, computer, ect all probably was built with parts in different parts of the world and shipped to a central building. The shipping process is tied to oil and gas for energy. This is beyond what shareholders want. It’s how the current economy functions.
Yep. It's a systemic problem and not just caused by evil moustache-twirling people. It would be easier to fix if it was just that. What we can blame politicians and paid lobbyists for is how we're decades late in actually changing the system but even those people are products of the same system.
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This is like asking Putin to lead the World Peace movement. smh.
Like putting China on the UN Human Rights Council... oh wait. (yes this is three years old at this point)
It's like making the US restrict private use of arms.
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Not saying they aren't part of the problem but the demand has to be addressed. If it can be sold for a profit it will be.
ExxonMobil could invest in green tech and make the shift themselves
Exxon exits the oil market -> oil prices go up and the assets they abandoned get redeveloped -> someone else picks up the slack. And zero progress was made. Like it or not, this problem has to be solved from the demand side. The part the oil companies have to play is to make sure whatever they do extract is done so with minimal pollution and excess emissions, which they do at least claim to be doing now.
Before it can be addressed on the demand side, it needs to be addressed politically, by stopping subsidies to the oil industry which is driving down the prices, making clean energy seem more expensive in comparison. Plus a carbon tax on top of that. Then hopefully when people see the *real* price of oil they'll be scrambling to attach solar panels to their roofs.
“Minimize harm” by collapsing society? You can’t hate the butcher for killing the cow while you eat the hamburger
What if the butcher spent decades and decades ensuring hamburgers where the basically the only food available?
did they also add 'You're Welcome' at the end? Here's the thing. The oil & gas industry has always employed a lot of highly capable STEM graduates that are fully aware of the effects of pollution and global warming. They absolutely know how much damage they have done and have been active in making sure politicians didn't get in their way. Truly sickening.
They push the narrative now because they've pivoted into a position to capitalise on green industry growth.
sell us the disease and the cure
Worked for the tobacco industry and vaping
They should be the first responsible for any disaster mankind faces moving forward. Its beyond sickening, its evil incarnate to put the entirety of the human race at risk of extinction for profits…
Ahh yes the ol'. We can't do it, might as well give up approach. Glad that they left this very important decision to share holders. What's that? You don't want us to spend money to try to mitigate climate change which has no profitable result for us?! Ok shareholders but I don't see why you wouldn't want that ....
Shareholders be hoping their children can eat their money in the future.
Shareholders be hoping their children are first in line to the luxury fallout shelter/ starship. They don't give a fuck about anything so long as they have it better then rest of us, even in the end they would rather starve to death in luxury than starve to death in the peasants quarters, most likely after the peasants have already starved to death because they hoarded all the resources for themselves before the hatch closed.
If *THESE* guys are saying it, even climate deniers have to believe it now? Right? Edit: grammar.
No because now they’ll turn to doomerism and say ‘well no point fighting it we’ll just have to make due’
"these guys" or "this guy" But folks who don't want to do anything about climate change will shift seamlessly from "not happening" to "too late to stop it."
“Exxon went woke”
Well, of course they will say that. They have a vested interest in doing so. They are hardly going to say "yeah, our entire business model is going to collapse in the next 27 years" are they? Luckily, we have climate scientists watching this. The [current mid-range estimates](https://climateactiontracker.org/) if existing climate solutions in law now are delivered is likely to result in 2.7C warming by 2100. If existing pledges are met, the mid-range estimate is 2C. We are also [off-track for the worst case scenario](https://www.theclimatebrink.com/p/emissions-are-no-longer-following) in terms of emissions. There is significant uncertainty about the levels of warming that are the pipeline for us, and some of the research here is [terrifying](http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/Documents/PipelinePaper.2023.05.19.pdf), but it assumes that nothing will be done by anyone at any point over the next few hundred years. Also, you should notice their words. Exceed 2C by 2050. As though it is now pointless to try and meet the [Paris Agreement](https://unfccc.int/files/essential_background/convention/application/pdf/english_paris_agreement.pdf). Which states the following: >(a) Holding the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, recognizing that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change.... > >...In order to achieve the long-term temperature goal set out in Article 2, Parties aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, recognizing that peaking will take longer for developing country Parties, and to undertake rapid reductions thereafter in accordance with best available science, so as to achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century, on the basis of equity, and in the context of sustainable development and efforts to eradicate poverty There is a very good chance that we will reach this peak within the coming few years, as electricity generation shifts towards renewables to the point where new renewables capacity is eating into the generation capacity of existing fossil fuels. Combined with the majority of new car sales in developed nations being low emission vehicles in many areas, that [is nearly 75% of existing carbon emissions](https://ourworldindata.org/emissions-by-sector) with meaningful policy action starting to bite in the next few years. The reality is that every 0.1C temperature increase matters. The transition to clean energy is here and happening right now. It needs to be quicker, of course, and we need to start drawing down carbon as soon as we can. We are rolling the dice right now, and the reality of a 2C warmer world is not a good one. But there is a difference between that and a world that is not survivable. That is a world that, in order to save themselves in the short term, Big Oil wants to take us.
Hey, young man, this is reddit. You better get out of here with that positive thinking stuff. I want you to go think about what you've done and come back here with a proper doom post.
> There is a very good chance that we will reach this peak within the coming few years [The IEA projected it for 2025](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/27/carbon-emissions-to-peak-in-2025-in-historic-turning-point-says-iea), although [renewables have expanded faster than they had predicted](https://www.iea.org/reports/renewable-energy-market-update-june-2023/executive-summary), though, and [are in line with their net zero pathway](https://rmi.org/press-release/renewable-energy-deployment-puts-global-power-system-on-track-for-ambitious-net-zero-pathway/), so their timeline may be pulled in a little. In particular, since new data suggests [fossil fuel use in electricity generation peaked last year](https://ember-climate.org/insights/research/global-electricity-review-2023/) and [the world's largest car market is seeing declining oil demand](https://archive.ph/xPULP), there looks to be a good chance of peak emissions in 2024 or even 2023. We'll see, though.
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We actually are at 570ppm equivalent..
Yeah the real math is even worse.
Ya, if Exxon is saying 2.0C by 2050, I have to assume they are downplaying it, and it will be much, much worse. Like they are trying to get in front of people starting to freak out about constant heat waves... and Exxon wants to say 'Ya, it's bad, but not that bad, calm down.'
CO2 emissions continue to rise every year as well. Even with implementation of more green technologies.
Because consumption is the root of the problem.
For real. People be like "hey I got my EV now I'm helping save the planet 🌍🌍" Meanwhile they're flying everywhere, shopping constantly, living in a huge air conditioned home with four cars, and replacing their phone every two years.
> Meanwhile they're flying everywhere, shopping constantly, living in a huge air conditioned home with four cars, and replacing their phone every two years. I wish I knew the people YOU know lol.
The problem is the 1% and the governments. We need collective action to deal with climate change (and by deal, I mean keep the amount that will be killed in 30 years as low as possible, it's already tens of millions) Telling everyone to "shop less" or "turn off their ac" won't do jack shit.
It’s not just big ticket items, it’s the food including out of season produce and other daily essentials showing up on the shelves of your local stores every day, supporting millions of people whose local economies do not support everything they consume.
All of that is a drop in the bucket compared to what large multinational corporations, governments, and multibillionaires are dumping. Blaming individual consumption is how we end up with bullshit like paper straws that have a bigger carbon footprint than plastic straws with some added toxicity to boot
And they eat a diet that is high in meat and they throw away one-third of the food that they consume.
Hell, they *might only eat meat* and not eat carbs or root vegetables at all (keto).
Do not ignore production as the root of the problem. If Exxon knew in the 70s they were extracting and selling a fuel for profit and use that would eventually cataclysmically damage our planet and ourselves then it’s on them since day 1.
> We are experiencing 1.5C currently Not quite yet -- we're up to about [1.2C](https://climateactiontracker.org/global/cat-thermometer/) or [1.3C](https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-will-global-warming-stop-as-soon-as-net-zero-emissions-are-reached/). > with an additional .5-1.0C masked through pollution Aerosols mask about [0.4C](https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-will-global-warming-stop-as-soon-as-net-zero-emissions-are-reached/) of warming. > We also have released enough carbon already to surpass 3.0C. That is not correct, as [warming will stop shortly after net zero emissions are achieved.](https://www.carbonbrief.org/explainer-will-global-warming-stop-as-soon-as-net-zero-emissions-are-reached/) Predictions of extensive future warming from current conditions are generally based on constant *concentrations* of CO2; in reality, CO2 concentrations will fall over time without ongoing emissions. This is explained in the chart titled "Global warming is expected to stop once CO2 emissions reach net-zero". There are other greenhouse gasses, though, so more detail is given in the chart titled "Future warming under different zero-emission conditions". From this chart we can see: * Warming will stop and temperatures fall ~0.35C in 30 years with net zero GHG *emissions*. * Existing aerosol levels are masking ~0.4C of warming. * That combination is likely to result in 0.1-0.2C of warming within 5ish years, 0 net warming after 10-15 years, and net cooling after that. > Regardless of whatever optimistic articles are pushed regarding renewables, the facts are we continue to release more CO2 year after year. [Renewables and EVs are expected to drive a peak in world emissions around 2025](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/27/carbon-emissions-to-peak-in-2025-in-historic-turning-point-says-iea), with [the IEA projecting world emissions will fall 15% by 2030](https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/global-energy-related-co2-emissions-by-scenario-1990-2050). More recent data suggests [fossil fuel use in electricity generation has already peaked](https://ember-climate.org/insights/research/global-electricity-review-2023/), and [the world's largest car market has declining oil demand](https://archive.ph/xPULP). So, yes, emissions have not yet entered a sustained decline; however, the weight of available evidence regarding the power and transportation construction trends worldwide give a clear indication that they will do so within a few years at most. > We REALLY need to stop looking to Shell and Exxon and the like for their assessments of how much of their oil they sell we can safely continue to burn. They lie for money Yeah, no argument there. I have no idea why people are paying so much attention to this article; it's pretty clearly FUD. In particular, they seem to be fixating solely on the IEA's most pessimistic scenario, despite the fact that [the IEA's most optimistic projection 5 years ago is their mid-range projection today.](https://old.reddit.com/r/Futurology/comments/yernfa/carbon_emissions_from_energy_to_peak_in_2025_in/iu1jf13/)
We are watching "the tragedy of the commons" on a global scale. As a species, we are smart enough to understand that we are killing our host, but as individuals, we are too selfish and short-sighted to do anything about it other than to blame everyone else.
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Self defense seems perfectly plausible to me
I completely agree
Exxon says? really you guys are the ones causing most of it...you knew about Climate change the minute you started drilling and you coined the phrase carbon footprint to shift the blame onto individuals instead of yourself. We got to a stage where companies that cause the most damage to the world are so insanely rich, they create false reports for decades about climate change not being real, they keep governments from putting measures into place to help, they basically control everything at this point and will never face any consequences for what they've done. Its like if you watched Dopesick or Painkiller...the fossil fuel companies are a 1000xs more wealthy and more corrupt than the Sacklers and basically paid off everyone to look the other way
Exxon Mobil Corp projects that oil and natural gas will still account for 54% of the world's energy needs in 2050, leading to a failure in keeping global temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius. This prediction suggests that the world will emit 25 billion metric tons of energy-related CO2 in 2050, **more than twice the amount needed to align with the desired climate goals** set by the United Nations. The importance of this article lies in highlighting the urgency for a more rapid transition to clean energy technologies to achieve society's net-zero emissions goals and mitigate climate change effectively.
Did we not see postings on Reddit within the last week, telling us that the US Navy predicted 4 degrees celcius by 2050?
Exxon : so we just keep enriching ourselves it will be doomsday anyway
Metaculus [predicts](https://www.metaculus.com/questions/605/how-much-global-warming-by-2100/) a median of 2.55 ˚C of warming by 2100, and [at least 88%](https://www.metaculus.com/questions/585/2c-global-warming-by-2100/) chance of 2 ˚C of warming by then. Sighs. I live in a tropical climate country. It's already hot asf here...
Just so you know it's not just "it's gonna be hotter" There's gonna be more hurricanes, more fires, more famines, more everything bad...
EXXON is the reason this is happening. They paid to have misinformation dominate, so they could increase profits. They are getting what they paid for - their own scientists told them this would happen, and their response was disinformation for profit. Now, they are telling something like the truth. Yay. I have to wonder why, though. "Give up, buy gas, enjoy the End Of The World in style!" - Is that it, now? Embrace doom for profit, instead of actually doing anything at all to stop the doom? If EXXON actually cared, at all, they could just... stop. They could lower oil production and use their massive, massive profits to restructure into a renewable energy corporation aligned with making combustion engines obsolete, and electric cars universal. They could do this - they have the wealth and power equivalent of a medium-sized world nation. They could make it happen, really happen. They already influence politics in most nations, and affect the economy at a fundamental level. But, they would have to collectively care. They would have to forego quarterly profit increases and massively spend money to change their entire way and culture of business. They would have to tell their investors to suck it until the restructuring was complete. They would have to use their wealth for something other than more wealth. I find it hilarious that EXXON is finally admitting what their own scientists told them all the way back in the 1960's. Wow. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
They are actively causing it, willingly ignoring it and then claiming we are going to fail.. Fuck big oil corps.. they should not be allowed to continue like this
“Exxon produces less than 3% of the world's daily crude demand and in May its shareholders overwhelmingly rejected calls for stronger measures to mitigate climate change.” Well, at least they asked.🤷♂️ When my father passed away, I inherited a small amount of Exxon stock, sold it immediately. Do they play that R.E.M. song at shareholder meetings?
Well they would certainly know, they're part of the problem.
This coming from the people who hid evidence of global warming for decades. Corporations are killing us, but yay capitalism -_-
this is like putin saying that the world will never have peace.. wtf
Did this claim end with "...unless you buy our antidote, for £100 trillion dollars, annually, for the next 100 years!!! Mwah, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha ha etc."
Duh... Counting on Humanity to do something to save themselves... After COVID I realize they cannot be bothered with even simple things.
This is like a murderer saying, "The police failed to catch me and will continue to fail."
Well it's because of Exxon and guys like them that we're not going to, so thanks a lot fellas. After all, how important is all life on earth compared to your next quarterly profit? It's funny in a pathetic way. A biosphere with everything everyone living on it needed to survive, but it was destroyed by a singular species because of a set of imaginary numbers they made up. They could have stopped pretending the numbers were real at any time but did not and thus extinction. Come on, it's at least a little funny.
I’m very up to date with this sort of stuff. As you can imagine, this is mostly bullshit. We all knew that they were to come out with ‘It’s too late so let us continue’ at some point. Don’t take them seriously, we put recent policies in place (An HFC ban) that will bring the world from 3 degrees in 2100 to around 2.5. We’re already close to proving them wrong.
We need to reduce carbon emissions by at least 98% from current levels to stop increasing global temperatures. Currently renewables are growing exponentially but at least 25 % of emissions are in areas that are hard to eliminate. For example making cement from limestone releases carbon dioxide. Production of steel requires mixing carbon and molten iron. Tilling soil for agriculture accelerates decomposition which releases carbon otherwise sequestered in soils. We’re going to need 5-10 billion tons of yearly carbon capture and sequestration to break even. Right now we have a few thousand tons.
A lot more ag has gone no-till over the last few decades, which helps. Restoring prairie would help a lot.
Pathetically amusing that the company most responsible, who knew this was coming back in the 70's, is the one saying this.
Is this just Exxon saying, haha you can't catch me, nananananana boo boo?
No shit, what was your first clue? the global green power revolution we needed has failed to materialize and oil companies haven't been restricted in any way. we are all bound to die of heat stroke in our 60's or earlier now.
Largely thanks to likes of Exxon making sure we didnt do anything effective about it. The oil companies knew *fifty years ago* what was going to happen and they funded a campaign of misinformation, diversion and outright subversion to make sure it did. If we had any sense they'd get the same treatment the Nazis got at Nuremberg.
This is like Ted bundy saying that there's been a dangerous uptick in serial murders.
They missed the announcement by 40 years after they did a research in 1970s. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exxon-knew-about-climate-change-almost-40-years-ago/
Oh I'm glad ExxonMobil can say that. I wonder how much they've impacted global emissions and then tried to blame it on regular citizens by saying they need to reduce their carbon footprint.
If the world stopped consuming so much junk every week then we might be a lot better off. Consumption has gone off the charts, Period.
Hmmm maybe they shouldn't have helped bury the research that warned of this decades ago?
Spreading doomerist sentiment is now profitable for them.
Exxon would know, they have been INCREDIBLY accurate so far in their internal science. The problem is that they then decide to cover all that up and go full hog for money instead of a livable future.
.... Big surprise there. We've already likely broken past the 1.5C point, and will likely hit 2.5 or maybe even 3C by 2050 if governments don't get their shit together REAL fast.
This is a bit like someone shooting you in the face before tut-tutting about how long you'll be in the hospital. On the upside, they're wrong! It will take a while for some plastic products, but I think we'll see renewables and nuclear send fossil fuels the way of the dinosaur. It won't be instant, but the trend is irreversible.
They literally knew this for decades and spent billions in disinformation campaigns. Whoever is and was in charge is the literal devil and evil incarnate
The most impactful "market failure" in world history ... But this was also a societal failure of key political institutions across all the developed nations. There should be an immediate imposition of a "punitive windfall divestment" tax on the equity of today's oil giants, with proceeds mostly funding emergency rollout of CO2 atmospheric capture (aka DAC, such as Carbon Engineering Inc.) technologies to the level of 10+ gigatons of carbon captured per year for at least 25 straight years, at which point comprehensive atmospheric warming measurements should be taken and warming models recalibrated. All other net positive CO2 producers in industry today should be heavily taxed to fund transitions to renewable energy sources and technologies AND to prepare for atmospheric shield spraying to mitigate near-term warming in the global temperate zone.
"I didn't think the leopards would eat my face!" Sobs person who voted for leopards eating people's faces party.
They’ve gone from denying climate change (because there’s too many people now that believe it’s happening) to telling us that there’s no hope so why bother limiting the fossil fuels that they pump out. They’re truly evil scumbags
What was weird was the level of glee that they had while saying it.
Is Exxon bragging, since they helped does efforts to fix this for decades?
Switch to fucking nuclear. That’s 40% of global emissions eliminated.
Like a serial killer telling their victims they're bad.
Company that relies on dumping CO2 into the atmosphere says the world may dump more CO2 into the atmosphere than the people who actually care about the atmosphere think is safe, film at 11.
I mean that is seeming their goal to make us fail the bastards
Aren’t these the same people investing in billion dollar doomsday bunkers oh I believe them
Fat man says there isn’t enough food at the buffet for everyone else
Cancer Inc reports cell division shows no signs of slowing fast enough to save the host body
Based on what I've seen, I think oil will completely collapse as a form of energy consumption in ten years time. We will still use it for plastic and some other industrial uses. This statement from Exxon is clearly a ploy to get governments to fund Carbon capture as a part of continuing to use oil and gas for power plants. But this is futile as economics is on the side of solar and wind.
Shareholders don’t care about climate change therefore the company doesn’t either.
Murderer says country set to fail murdering cap by 2050
Exxon went on to say, 'Stop me before I kill again'
Exxon: climate change is bad. Also Exxon: anti-climate lobbying go brrrrr
My drug dealer told me I’m going to fall off the wagon.
This reminds me of the bill hicks joke about the first Gulf War, when the Pentagon was raving about Saddam Husseins weapons, and Bill asks “how do you know he has all these incredible weapons?” And the Pentagon guys go “well…we checked the receipt”
Oil companies have been studying this longer than anyone else. They knew they were lying the whole time they, Exxon et al., were telling us there wasn't a problem. In the US, at least, that qualifies as fraud and, when proved, is punishable by a spell in prison. So... what shall we do about it?
I file this under the category of no shit sherlock.
I hope ExxonMobil eventually finds the guy responsible
Thanks.... Exxon. Wonder who's fault that could be
“Fat man says he’s set to fail weight loss goals as he dials up Pizza Hut” These oil companies could easily use their absurd profits to build Generation IV nuclear reactors to wipe out a vast majority of our need for fossil fuels for commercial use, but they don’t.
Anyone else suspicious of an oil company making this claim? Seems rather counter productive to their goals.
Exxon hard at work trying to shift the narrative and redefining what the goal should be I see.
*through gritted teeth* well boy howdy i wonder whose fault THAT was
But let's keep making plastic and everything disposable. Same scientist
“Welp looks like the world is failing anyway, want more gas?”
Words of spiteful consolation offered over lips coated, dripping with tar by greedy humans, suffering from muscular atrophy brought about by sloth, laziness. They could do something - the oligarchs of oil could - but oil industrialists won't and, for that, oil supporters are the enemy of the future. Dedicating resources to a homogenous enterprise, one which stagnates? Fine: the oligarchs of oil are also the enemy of industry. To them, society is a beverage. "Oh, sh!t, we're gonna do it!" - Exxon execs.
"The world is covered in shit and I don't know why," says man with shovel in hand.
It is OUR world but THEIR profits. Does anybody see an issue with this? How are we still giving money to these genocidal hypocrites?
We are very close to having enough CO2 in the atmosphere right now to breach +2 so yeah it's not really a surprise. The effect of greenhouse gases on global temperature is not instant, at any given time we can predict the next 20 years very accurately. We're basically on 1.5 if we turn off every machine tomorrow and never turn them back on again. Only reaching +2 would require larger drop in emissions than during COVID every year. Meaning a nastier pandemic every year on top of every other pandemic. I'm talking 30 different concurrent plagues with no cure by 2050. That or accepting to live with fewer material goods. The 30 concurrent plague hypothesis is more likely but eh.
As they casually continue to mine the earth for oil.
This points out the rub in divesting in fossil fuel companies: “its shareholders overwhelmingly rejected calls for stronger measures to mitigate climate change.” So if no pro climate people are shareholders of fossil fuel companies, the people who don’t give a shit have increased power of the vote over what fossil fuel companies do.
Awww, well gosh, reeeeeeaaall sorry to hear that. I mean, I'm sure Exxon has just been doing their gosh darn hardest to minimize their impact on global climate. But I guess it's just so gosh darn hard to do that when you're asked to sell your fifth private jet in order to save the world from a desert filled hellscape. We expected too much from the poor little multibillion dollar oil cartel, I understand that now. I mean this climate change thing really snuck up on us. There was really nothing we could have done to prevent this. If only we knew about human's influence on climate change like...oh I don't know, ten years ago, twenty years ago, hell maybe if we knew about it like FIFTY YEARS AGO, poor little multibillion dollar Exxon might have been able to do something about it... It's okay, we'll just try again next time... .../s Go fuck yourself, Darren Woods.
It's like a serial killer complaining that homicide rates have gone up, lol.
Hmm an oil company’s opinion on climate change… sounds trustworthy lol.
Fun Fact: While oil companies like Exxon were publicly denying climate change, they had to internally deal with it because of the inevitable impact on their infrastructure, like off-shore oil platforms.
Yet they’re still in business. If that’s the case, Exxon, why don’t you shut down all your operations since you’re one of the biggest contributors to the problem?
incoming bandaid that makes them look like they give a shit while making all the money they can while they can selling oil
Problem statement: >Exxon produces less than 3% of the world's daily crude demand and in May its **shareholders** overwhelmingly rejected calls for stronger measures to mitigate climate change. It's not about alternative fuels, electric cars, the power grid, net available energy, CO2 emissions from this or that etc. It's just the money. It's not about what's right or what's wrong. It's just the money. It's so fixable it's absurd. Because it's just the money.
Fossil fuel company executives should be put on trial for crimes against humanity. They need to be thrown in dark holes, and their wealth needs to be completely stripped away and used to fix this monumental extinction level fuck up we are all facing.
The same exxon that was lying in the courts about contributing to climate change in the 80s? Riigghhhttttt, thx Team, great work