Chevron is accused of exaggerating its environmental initiatives by three NGOs, which filed a complaint on Tuesday with the US competition authority, the FTC, using for the first time against an oil group a procedure intended to fight against the " greenwashing ”.
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Earthworks, Global Witness and Greenpeace USA criticize Chevron for overestimating its investments in renewable energy and its commitment to reduce pollution and thus misleading consumers.
These accusations are
"unfounded"
, retorted the company in a message sent to AFP.
This is the first time, according to NGOs, that a complaint has been filed against a company producing hydrocarbons based on the "Green Guides" developed by the FTC to determine what constitutes misleading environmental information .
Chevron, which again presented at the beginning of March new targets in terms of reducing carbon emissions,
“between 2010 and 2018 only devoted 0.2% of its capital expenditure to low-carbon energy sources. ”
, That is to say on average 26 million per year on the 13 billion dedicated to the investments, affirm in particular the NGOs.
The company, however,
"spent millions on advertising and marketing campaigns to convince consumers with spurious claims about the environmental impact of their products,"
they add in a statement.
They regret, for example, that Chevron says it wants to
"reduce the intensity of its emissions"
while continuing to increase its oil and gas extraction.
"Honest conversations"
For its part, the company claims to be
"engaged in honest conversations about the energy transition"
.
"We are taking measures to reduce the carbon intensity of our operations and assets, increase the use of renewable energies and carbon offsets tools in our activities and invest in low carbon technologies to develop solutions that can be marketed, ”
said the company in the message sent to AFP.
During its presentation at the beginning of March, the group notably committed to investing more than 3 billion dollars until 2028 in the energy transition.
Oil companies face growing pressure from representatives of civil society and shareholders concerned about the impact of climate change.