Company Profile - ExxonMobil
Back to Company Profiles Home
Being one of the biggest companies in one of the dirtiest industries puts ExxonMobil on the backfoot right away regarding climate change and global warming. But ExxonMobil does not do much to counteract that. Rather, they seem to put more effort (and money) into justifying their large carbon footprint than into actively trying to reduce it. While ExxonMobil is responsible for more carbon emissions than any other company in the world, and despite having generated more bottom line profit than anyone else, they do surprisingly little to reduce their own carbon footprint or put any thought into clean technologies and the fight against global warming.
A quick look through the 'Energy & Environment' section of their website shows a lengthy report of their Energy Outlook for the world. This document seems committed to explaining why carbon emissions are increasing now and why this trend will not change in the next 50 years. The report has shockingly little information on measures being taken to reduce their carbon footprint or any investment being made into green technology. The essense of the report truly is that ExxonMobil done and will continue to release a lot of carbon emissions, and there is nothing that can be done about it.
Dig a bit further into their site and you find their token section on what they are in fact doing to fight global warming. Needless to say, this section is far shorter than the Energy Outlook report discussed above. After a list of prestigious institutions they have supported, they give a list of 'opportunities' they have found to reduce carbon - not just their own carbon footprint, but those of others as well. Unfortunately, despite identidying these 'opportunities' (often several years ago) it appears that very little progress has been made on any of them.
There are, however, a few things that ExxonMobil is in fact doing that will reduce their carbon footprint. First, they have a focus on energy efficiency in their operations. (Although this is one of those 'opportunities' that is yet to reach its full potential). They have also invested more than $1 billion in Cogeneration projects. Cogeneration is the simultaneous production of electricity as well as thermal heat/steam. It is a proven method of improving the efficiency of energy production. One should note that $1 billion of investment is hardly a huge sum to a company with annual net profits near $40 billion! The final aspect, is that ExxonMobil has partnered with other corporations, including Toyota and Caterpillar, to develop more advanced fuels and engines. Although one has to wonder if the effort put into that research is really equal among those partners.
As if their track record on carbon emissions and global warming was not bad enough, ExxonMobil seems to have gone out of their way to further hurt their reputation in this area. ExxonMobil has provided financial support to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), a think tank with close links to the Bush administration, that offered payment to scientists to publish articles that would undermine the findings of the UN's Intergovenmental Panel on Climate Change. Perhaps a way of trying to cover their own tracks, but as these actions have become public knowledge, ExxonMobil has launched themselves to the top of the list of worst offenders for carbon emissions and climate change.
How do they stack up?
Business Strategy: 1/5 - Received the one point for their token work on improving energy efficiency.
Products & Services: 0/5 - Their industry is partially to blame for this low score.
Leading by Example: 0/5 - Apart from a lack of action to fight global warming and reduce their carbon footprint, they seem to have actually tried to hinder others who want to make a difference.
Overall: 0.7/5
|
Share This Story: |
