London (AFP)

The bosses of the oil giants posted their good ecological intentions at the Oil and Money conference in London, but the environmental activists denounce wishful thinking.

At the opening of the oil high mass on Tuesday, Aramco Group CEO Amin Nasser said the "fight against climate change" was "of crucial importance" and forced the whole sector to "think" differently".

Some words reiterated more or less by Ben Van Beurden, boss of Royal Dutch Shell, but also by that of BP, Bob Dudley, or Total, Patrick Pouyanné.

The Secretary-General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Mohammed Barkindo, also assured Thursday, at the close of the forum, that the cartel of black gold seized "very seriously" the fight against global warming. And he recalled that its members were all signatories of the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

"It's just an impression they want to give," said Charlie Kronik, Greenpeace. "But they continue as if nothing had happened," he added, citing two recent reports from the NGOs Global Witness and Carbon Tracker.

The first, published in April, had calculated that the $ 5,000 billion of long-term investment projects in hydrocarbons were "inconsistent" with the Paris agreement. The second, published in September, focused on the year 2018 only and reached the same conclusion.

- Evolution too slow -

Aramco ranks first in the ranking of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide since 1965, according to a study by Climate Accountability Institute, a US research center, published Wednesday by the daily The Guardian.

BP, Shell and Total are also among the 20 companies in the petroleum, coal and gas sector responsible for 480 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent released over 50 years ago, more than a third of the world's total, according to the same study .

The major oil companies have "evolved in recent years," says Paul de Leeuw, director of the Institute of Energy Transition at Robert Gordon University.

"The question that comes next, and which is at the center of the debate today, is the speed at which these companies are able to evolve," he adds, questioned by AFP.

According to Bassam Fattouh, Director of Energy Studies at the Oxford Institute, "International oil companies are making significant efforts to reduce their carbon emissions (...) and have grown into natural gas and renewable energy" .

"But society at large considers that these efforts are coming too late, so the main challenge for these companies is to speed up their transition without weakening their profitability."

Contacted by AFP, Total highlights the 1.5 to 2 billion euros annual investment in low-carbon electricity by 2025 and the launch of a photovoltaic power plant in Villers-Saint-Paul (north from France). Aramco reaffirms its commitment without quoting figures.

During the conference, BP's boss advocated for gas as a cornerstone of an effective fight against climate change, extolling his group's efforts to fight methane leaks.

- The weight of words -

The oil companies are facing increased pressure, both political and citizen, to become less polluting. The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has, for example, decided to give up BP's aid.

The Oil and Money forum will also change its name next year, renamed "Energy Intelligence Forum".

An early sponsor, the New York Times decided to no longer join the event, encouraging the Energy Intelligence organizer in his decision to change his name.

Greenpeace called "100% greenwashing", which several activists brandished, at a forum dinner, a banned banner of a "climate criminals" for the attention of BP and Shell.

The pro-environment group Extinction Rebellion also attacked the meeting, setting off the alarm in the hotel that hosted it, in addition to demonstrations in the city.

© 2019 AFP