A year after its launch at COP28, the Oil and Gas Decarbonization Charter (OGDC) has published its Baseline Report, setting a foundation to help prioritize and track progress on emissions reductions made by the 54 oil and gas companies—representing almost 45% of global oil production—that have signed up to the Charter’s ambitions.
These ambitions include working toward net-zero operations by 2050, near-zero upstream methane emissions, and zero routine flaring by 2030 in addition to measuring and publicly reporting progress toward meeting OGDC’s goals.
The publication of the Baseline Report is a milestone for OGDC that presents the work achieved in the first year since the initiative was launched at COP28.
In the past year, OGDC has established a governance framework and launched a survey to determine signatories’ emissions-reduction ambitions and implementation plans to set a baseline to track future progress. OGDC has also implemented a Collaborate and Share program to disseminate solutions, promote peer-to-peer collaboration, and encourage the adoption of best practices to reduce emissions. In a sign of a positive momentum, the initiative has also attracted three new members—Oil India Limited, PetroChina, and Vår Energi.
“We are proud of the 54 companies that have already signed up to the Charter and are encouraged by the extent of their engagement in this first major piece of work that helps to establish a base on which to build future success,” said OGDC’s three CEO champions and founding members—Abu Dhabi National Oil Company CEO Sultan Al Jaber, Aramco CEO Amin Nasser, and TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné—in a joint statement.
“Each company is at a different phase of the decarbonization journey. For some, the Charter reflects existing commitments and aligns with pledges already made via other initiatives. For others, it marks their first steps toward climate action.
“The diverse nature of our signatories is an opportunity as well as a challenge. Each company brings different experiences, capabilities, stakeholders, and national circumstances. Signatories will have the opportunity to learn from the best practices and insights of peers from a wide range of backgrounds and from across the globe,” the CEOs said.
OGDC’s Charter Baselining Survey found that the majority of signatories are already consistent with the Charter’s ambitions for net zero operations by 2050 and goals to reduce methane emissions to near zero and eliminate flaring by 2030. Gaps identified in the survey will help prioritize support and knowledge transfer from companies with relevant experience.
The survey also found that a majority of the signatories already report on their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, though there is a need for common standards and methodologies to establish a robust reporting framework for the group.
According to the survey, most of the signatories already are investing in the energy systems of the future, including renewable energy, energy storage, low-carbon fuels, hydrogen, methane abatement, carbon capture utilization and storage, and carbon removals technologies, and plan to increase investments.
“A survey of oil and gas industry climate performance has never been attempted on this scale,” said Bjorn Otto Sverdrup, the head of the OGDC Secretariat. “Participants ranged from companies that pioneered decarbonization decades ago to those still in the early phases—all with different capabilities and reporting methods. The lessons learned will be used to improve reporting visibility and data quality and to create more targeted programs.”
This baselining survey sets the foundation for the collective work ahead. During the next year, OGDC said it will focus on providing the resources and guidance the signatories need to reduce their GHG emissions, methane emissions, and flaring. OGDC also plans to help signatories shape their net-zero roadmaps and develop emissions reporting to ensure progress can be tracked and to demonstrate how collective action can deliver positive climate impact on a global scale.