7 November 2019
In response to questioning at the company’s annual general meeting today, Cooper Energy confirmed it has “set its future operations against” a 4°C global warming scenario.
Cooper’s 2019 Sustainability Report stated the company is developing scenarios to assess climate-related risks and opportunities, which it says are based on the International Energy Agency’s New Policies Scenario. According to the TCFD, this scenario is consistent with a catastrophic 4°C of global warming.
“We chose the New Policies Scenario, and that’s the first scenario against which we’ve set our future operations and reported on”
John Conde AO, Chair, Cooper Energy
Given the company’s adherence to a 4°C warming scenario, it’s perhaps not surprising that Chair John Conde AO later in the meeting said:
“We see [our gas production] continuing to grow. We’re not planning on peaking and shrinking.”
John Conde AO, Chair, Cooper Energy
Cooper Energy’s plan is completely at odds with the climate goals of the Paris Agreement.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 2018 special report shows that, without widespread CCS, gas use for primary energy must decline globally by 25% by 2030 (from a 2010 baseline). Recently, Global Witness issued the following warnings: “Any production from new oil and gas fields, beyond those already in production or development, is incompatible with limiting warming to 1.5°C,” and “All of the $4.9 trillion forecast capex in new oil and gas fields is incompatible with limiting warming to 1.5°C.”