Former bp boss: UK must ‘step up’ on climate action as US cuts back renewables funding

FORMER bp boss Lord John Browne of Madingley has urged the UK to become a global leader in climate action in the face of “regrettable” low-carbon cutbacks happening in the US.

In a lecture at the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), Lord Browne told an audience of energy and financial experts that the UK has an opportunity to lead in decarbonisation technology – provided it continues to invest in commercially established renewables, namely solar, wind, and nuclear.

By the end of last year, renewables, including wind, solar, and hydro, made up more than half of the UK’s electricity generation. In parallel, fossil fuel accounted for 31.5% of electricity generation, down 16%.

Lord Browne said: “I was in the US a few weeks ago and low-carbon activity is being cut back, and funding is being reduced. I find that regrettable, but I also find it the strongest possible reason for the UK, both in academia and industry, to step up.”

On the private sector, Lord Browne said large private energy companies must prioritise low-carbon innovation.

The comment follows major private energy firms including Equinor and bp, which he led from 1995 to 2007, cutting investment in renewables to focus on high-margin fossil fuels.

Not enough UK investment

To meet the UK’s net zero targets, Lord Browne said that private investment must increase, as “the UK government cannot fund everything”.

He said: “We are not investing enough in this country or, globally for that matter, in new technologies, and the money we are investing is probably too scattered, creating a host of fragmented projects which don’t offer material solutions.”

This shortfall in investment was seen in the UK’s recent Contracts for Difference (CfD) auction, which secured 4.9 GW in offshore wind contracts, only half the new capacity needed to decarbonise electricity generation by 2035.

Renewables energy firm SSE projects that around £280–£400bn (US$360–US$514bn) of investment is needed for both clean generation and new grid infrastructure.

Lord Browne added: “The role of private investors is crucial, but they need incentives which value the greenhouse gases avoided, both through the use of carbon credits and penalties on methane emissions. Energy companies must be at the heart of that.”

Role of oil and gas firms

In the Q&A segment of the lecture, led by RAEng CEO Hayaatun Sillem, Lord Browne was asked about the role of large energy firms, with one audience member questioning whether oil and gas companies had “lost their credibility” in climate action due to recent cuts on renewables investment.

Lord Browne said that big oil and gas firms can be a driving force for climate action as they have more resource to diversify energy processes than smaller companies. He explained that the ability to diversify is only compromised when the “core business” is threatened.

bp reported a 35% fall in annual profit last year due to lower oil and gas prices and reduced profits from refineries. To tackle this, the company’s reset plan is looking to boost oil and gas investment by US$5bn.

Despite the shift from energy companies, Lord Browne insists these firms are leading the way in other low-carbon technologies and should focus on expanding projects in carbon capture.

He said: “From my perspective, oil and gas companies are still doing exactly what they said they were going to do. They are trying to figure out how to cut down methane emissions and how to geologically store CO2.”

He added: “Either non-oil-and-gas businesses of large companies succeed, in which case they should be span out, or they will fail, in which case they should be closed down, but they cannot really continue as they are.”