Mark Twain once said, “The rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated,” and the same can be said about the fossil fuel energy industry. Despite renewable energy installations being constructed at a record pace, companies pledging carbon neutrality and high-profile rulings against major oil companies, the fact is that fossil fuels make up more than 80 percent of the world’s primary energy sources[1] and will remain an essential part of the world economy for likely decades to come.

That’s not to say that companies involved in the extraction, production, refining, transportation or retailing of oil or natural gas can, or should, ignore the headwinds of change around alternative sources of energy. The demands on all companies to report on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues are louder and more persistent than ever before. Over 90 percent of the Standard and Poor’s (S&P) 500 and nearly every major oil company reports on ESG,[2] including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This trend has had a cascade effect on every oil and gas company, large or small, public or private — even private equity-owned. It is now an expectation that every company reports at least basic information about its most important ESG issues and report them in a clear and transparent way.

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