getting to grips with nuance
When you work in big-bad-oil-and-gas you very quickly need to grasp the nuances of the many debates which are perennially on-going in the industry. But just understanding nuance is a good thing for the self but you will need to work that one out for yourself.
So this industry is big enough to play both sides, even when they are doing all things good, there's a profit motive which makes you wonder about it all but that's the nuance of the situation.
CO2 emissions, the environment and it's protection, is everybody's concern but have a look at the friendly, green, spin which we have managed to put on it.
UK drivers can now neutralise the CO2 emissions caused by their driving through targetneutral, a non-profit making partnership initiative from BP.
Road transport accounts for 22 per cent of UK CO2 emissions. The straight-forward scheme, available at www.targetneutral.com, enables all drivers to take direct action to reduce their individual impact on climate change by funding CO2 reductions generated from environmental projects.
targetneutral:www.targetneutral.com allows a driver to calculate the cost of the annual CO2 reduction required to make their vehicle CO2 neutral. An average car, driven 10,000 miles in a year, generates approximately four tonnes of CO2. To neutralise this amount of carbon emissions via www.targetneutral.com will cost around £20 a year.
Four tonnes is the equivalent of filling a medium sized hot air balloon with pure CO2. A huge amount of CO2 could be neutralised therefore if all 40 million drivers in the UK signed up to targetneutral.
The scheme is entirely voluntary - BP customers do not have to sign up and it is open to all fuel users, not just BP customers. BP will not profit from contributions made to targetneutral. However, BP will make a direct contribution to targetneutral when motorists who are signed up to the scheme register and use their Nectar Card when they buy fuel at a BP forecourt.
The scheme has been developed in consultation with leading NGOs and will be advised and monitored by an independent Advisory and Assurance Panel chaired by Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director of Forum for the Future (
www.forumforthefuture.org.uk).Peter Mather, BP's Head of Country, UK said: "targetneutral is a practical and straightforward step that BP is taking to enable drivers to help the environment. BP is taking the lead because our extensive research shows that there is a huge consumer demand for such a scheme, but a general feeling from customers that they 'don't know where to start'."
Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director, Forum for the Future and Chairman of the targetneutral Advisory and Assurance Panel said: "The scientific consensus on climate change is overwhelming: we need to take radical action now if we are to avoid catastrophic consequences. We all have a responsibility to take up that challenge in our own lives, at home, work or as motorists. For this reason, Forum for the Future is very supportive of what BP is doing through targetneutral. The scheme should help raise awareness of the links between driving and climate change. Helping everyone get more 'carbon literate' is something that all oil companies will need to commit to in the very near future."
It's simple to take direct action. Motorists need to:
log on to
www.targetneutral.comThe role of targetneutral in CO2 reduction:targetneutral works best within the REDUCE, REPLACE, NEUTRALISE framework. These are three practical steps that all motorists can take to tackle their personal CO2 emissions.
REDUCE emissions as much as possible by changing attitudes and behaviour to use less fuel and be more fuel efficient. This will save money too.
REPLACE the fuel, oil, tyres and car with more fuel efficient products and models, specifically high efficiency diesel vehicles, when possible.
NEUTRALISE the effects of the CO2 emissions that cannot be reduced or replaced by joining targetneutral.
BP's role in targetneutral:
BP has initiated targetneutral, providing all set-up funding and will meet all ongoing running costs.
All targetneutral members' money, apart from VAT and payment transaction costs, buys CO2 emission reductions via the purchase of carbon credits. BP takes nothing from the scheme members' contribution.BP will make a direct contribution to targetneutral when motorists who are signed up to the scheme register and use their Nectar Card when they buy fuel at a BP forecourt.
The BP contribution is calculated per litre and is up to 10p per tank for regular fuels and up to 20p per tank for lower CO2-emitting BP Ultimate fuels. BP has 1 million customers per day in the UK.
The projects:
The money generated by targetneutral goes to a portfolio of CO2 reduction projects including alternative and renewable energy. Replacing traditional energy production methods with low CO2 emitting alternatives, is one way CO2 reductions are achieved. Initially there are five projects including a biomass energy plant in Himachal Pradesh; a wind farm in Karnataka, India and an animal waste management and methane capture program in Mexico. As targetneutral grows, more projects will be added.
Strict procedures are followed to ensure the projects' integrity. These are modelled on those created by the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) for emissions reduction projects developed under the Kyoto Protocol. All project activity is overseen by the targetneutral Advisory and Assurance Panel.
Author :OneBP
Theme :Climate Change
It's not quite true that we take nothing out of it, perhaps at face value but we hope that you will be filling up at our service stations, choosing us ahead of the rest for any future initiatives, begin to persuassively argue on our behalf and perhaps even one day you too could be selling your intellectual capital in one of our many offices.
But it's people within the organisation who have understood all of these nuances, who have been able to make this idea fly, and even if it only serves to create a little bit of awareness surely that's good thing for everybody. Another nuance about working here - aim for improvement not for perfection.
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