chevron CEO: company is working to lower carbon intensity of business

Chevron has committed $10 billion in lower carbon investments and projects by 2028, according to Mike Wirth, Chevron Chairman and CEO.

He said the money will go toward hydrogen and renewable fuels, as well as carbon capture, utilization, and storage.

“Climate change is real. There’s no doubt about it,” he told Andy Serwer, Barron’s editor-at-large. “Chevron is taking steps to lower the carbon intensity of our business in a way that helps contribute to addressing the challenge.”

According to the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), achieving the Paris Agreement’s goals will require peaking emissions as soon as possible. It will also require global net zero emissions by between 2065 and 2080.

The IPCC notes numerous potential pathways to achieving those goals, including the continued use of oil and gas, even in rapid decarbonization scenarios.

Wirth said it’s important to work together to test and scale new technologies before bringing them to market.

“We need to move rapidly,” he said. “We need to engage with innovation through universities, national laboratories and startup companies, all of which we work closely with, to try to bring these new technologies into the market.”

Chevron strives to be among the most efficient and responsible producers of lower carbon energy. Wirth noted the progress it is making will take time.

“It’s very difficult to change as rapidly as some people would like,” Wirth said.

“There’s massive investments, trillions of dollars, in the existing system that has evolved over 150 years.”