He called it "unwise and potentially dangerous" to ignore the evidence, and pledged: "If we are all to take responsibility for the future of our planet, it falls to us to begin to take precautionary action now."
As recently as June 2024, Browne was writing in the FT calling for a halt to new North Sea drilling licences, because "finding and developing the very limited oil and gas resources that remain will (not) be economic - or cost less - than buying supplies from the world market."
30 years ago, Lord John Browne stood at Stanford University and became the first CEO of a major oil company to publicly accept the science of climate change. Other oil bosses flew in to ask if he'd "lost the plot." In fact he'd found it. 🧵
Browne rebranded BP as "Beyond Petroleum." He invested in solar. He cut the company's own emissions ahead of schedule. He later moved into climate investing. For a while, he looked like proof that the fossil fuel industry could save itself from itself.
Now, with the Strait of Hormuz crisis creating political cover, Browne told Radio 4 that the Jackdaw and Rosebank fields should "absolutely" be approved. But the facts haven't changed.
The American Petroleum Institute declared he had "left the church", a telling phrase because the petroleum industry is in fact a death cult, and those who listen to science cannot remain members.
Around 90% of the oil and gas the North Sea once contained has already been extracted and burned. The transition to clean energy will actually be effective at boosting UK energy security, while further drilling is another nail in our coffin.
The North Sea is a mature basin. Research shows Rosebank could produce a net loss to the UK Treasury of over £250 million, while its owners Equinor and Ithaca pocket £1.5 billion in profit.
www.upliftuk.org/post/roseban...
What has changed is the prognosis if the world continues on its current trajectory towards climate collapse.
AMOC collapse looks increasingly likely and would devastate the UK.
Lord Browne knows all of this. He has known it for decades. He wrote the memo. He gave the speech. He cited the IPCC. He has chosen to un-know, at exactly the moment the stakes are highest. What the fuck is wrong with him? Has he gone mad?
