BP profits branded 'sickening' as oil giant waters down climate targets

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Energy giant BP has been branded “sickening" after posting record-breaking £23billion profits last year - while also scaling back its climate goals.Green groups hit out as BP announced watered-down eco targets for 2030 due to plans to plough nearly £1billion a year more into fossil fuel projects than previously thought.The oil and gas behemoth revealed profits in 2022 had more than doubled to £23billion - the biggest windfall in the company’s 114-year history.Eco campaigners said the bumper earnings were “obscene” as Scots struggle with fuel bills and the cost of living crisis.It comes amid runaway energy prices sparked by the war in Ukraine - and follows Shell last week announcing a staggering £33billion in profits.A Channel 4 investigation last year found BP funnelled £3.8billion into oil and gas projects in the first half of 2022 - more than ten times higher than the £300m invested in renewable and low-carbon projects.Friends of the Earth Scotland’s oil and gas Campaigner Freya Aitchison said: “The announcement of yet another sickening profit for an oil giant should anger us all.“Fossil fuel companies are being allowed to bank billions in profits whilst millions of ordinary people struggle to pay their bills.“Bosses and shareholders at these big polluters are being allowed to get even richer by profiteering from one of our most basic needs.

The harm caused by the fossil fuel energy system couldn't be clearer.“These companies are not serious about climate action or transitioning away from oil and gas - the evidence shows they are spending just a tiny fraction of their profits into truly green projects.”Mark Ruskell, Scottish Greens climate spokesman, hit out: “These profits are obscene.