Oil major BP reported its highest profit in 8 years this week, benefiting from the surge in gas and oil prices that came during the final months of 2021.
BP's chief exec, Bernard Looney, was quick to categorize the company's performance as "performing while transforming" — as BP, and other oil majors, look to transition to producing more clean energy.
The annual reports from BP over the last decade (we'll have to wait a few weeks for the 2021 one) show just how much BP is talking about clean energy. In its 2020 annual report there were 445 mentions of the words "sustainability", "emissions" or "renewable", way up on the counts from a decade ago (the reports have admittedly got 30% longer too).
Net zero, in 28 years
That talk will have to eventually be matched by action, as BP is one of the western oil companies that has pledged to get to net zero emissions by 2050 — giving the company 28 years to completely overhaul its business.
