At VU Amsterdam, the university’s ties with the fossil fuel industry are currently under scrutiny. Therefore, the VU board of directors has set up a consultation process to inform its decision about the university’s future relationship with the sector. To inform this process, the Amsterdam Sustainability Institute (ASI) invited everyone at VU to an expert meeting. Researchers presented the latest information on the fossil fuel industry and its role in the decarbonization transition. Insights from the climate science, policy, law and ethics fields of research were shared and discussed with the audience. The session was led by Edina Doci, associate professor at the School of Business and Economics.
Dr Marthe Wens, Assistant Professor at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), gave an overview of the development of the climate and how it is currently changing: extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and wildfires are expected to occur much more often in the lifetime of a person who is born today, with heat waves expected to happen up to 40 times more often under the current business as usual scenario. When complying with the goal of 1.5C as agreed in the Paris Agreement, it would be half as much.
Marthe further explained how exceeding the 1.5 degree climate target can trigger multiple climate tipping points and positive feedback loops. Moreover, due to the accumulative effect of CO2, every tonne of CO2 adds to the warming climate and thus risk of reaching these tipping points. Therefore, it is important to act now and swiftly, since the amount of carbon that can still be emitted is decreasing rapidly. Marthe also mentioned the historic responsibility for climate change, tapping into the issue of justice and equity and emphasised that the 1.5 degree target is not the goal but rather the limit we must achieve.
Prof Philipp Pattberg, Director of Amsterdam Sustainability Institute, opened his talk with a remark that the current discussion about stopping collaborations with the fossil fuel industry is not new nor radical but encouraged by UN General Secretary Antonio Guterres. He then shed light on the fossil fuel industry in the past, focusing on the responsibility for emissions. It has been established in a 2015 study (Frumhoff et al.) that 90 companies are responsible for 63% of all CO2 and methane emissions for the period 1854-2010. Fossil fuel companies have known since the ‘60s that CO2 comes from burning fossil fuels and have played a role in sowing doubt on scientific consensus and actively misleading the public. Following this, there has been a shift in discourse on responsibility from the initial UNFCCC pointing to countries to the current discourse focused on major emitters, among which companies, by attribution.
Dr Mathieu Blondeel, Assistant Professor at the Institute for Environmental Studies (IVM), shared insights on the transition strategies of fossil fuel companies. They stem from a time when the price for oil was low, a situation that has changed completely today. By giving examples of BP and Shell, he showed how the profits generated in 2022 went largely to shareholders, rather than investments into low carbon technologies. Big oil’s net zero plans by 2050 have thus come into question since fossil fuel companies are said to follow the adage of Milton Friedman where companies’ main responsibility is to increase profit. Mathieu reflected on the question of whether fossil fuel companies should be a part of the energy transition given the very nature of companies’ profit-driven motivations.
Clemens Kaupa, RCH, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, presented recent and ongoing legal cases against fossil fuel companies citing cases from Carbon Majors Inquiry by the Philippines Commission on Human Rights, Milieudefensie vs Shell, and the Earth Day Lawsuit. These cases demonstrate how the fossil fuel industry violated human rights obligations by not reducing emissions in line with the Paris Agreement, has deceived the public about the harm they have caused and the role they play in the energy transition is increasingly considered to be illegal due to conflicts of interest. Lastly, fossil fuel companies actively mobilizes the law against climate action, and also seek to undermine their legal obligations in practical terms and driving up the costs of climate action. However, the increasing amount of legal cases against companies of the fossil fuel industry is expected to reveal more information and thus more evidence for practices such as misleading the public.
Johan Wempe, Professor of Ethics, dived into the ethical perspective raising the question of the concept of responsibility and understanding the motivations of all parties involved. He advocates for approaching the issue of responsibility and solutions in a proactive and prospective manner, calling for individuals to act as involved change actors in the system.
The presentations were followed by a Q&A where questions raised by the audience led to an engaging and stimulating discussion with our experts. We would like to thank our speakers for sharing their invaluable experiences with us and for allowing us to view more closely into the fossil fuels industry.
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