Black gold blues: Climate wins signal sea change for Big Oil

Environmental defeats against ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell show energy giants that fail to decarbonise aggressively could be forced to do so.

Climate advocates scored two landmark victories this week in the United States and Europe, shifting the battle lines for how the oil industry will contend with the low-carbon transformation. At a shareholder meeting, activist investors at US-based ExxonMobil secured the election of two climate-friendly candidates to the company’s board. And in the Netherlands, a Dutch court ruled that Royal Dutch Shell must accelerate efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions. Taken together, the dual defeats for the oil supermajors show the groundswell of support for more investment in clean energy, as fossil fuel firms stare down pressure to go green more aggressively.