18 May 2017
In response to a clumsy attempt by Santos to dance around the statements that Chairman Peter Coates made at the Santos AGM on the 4th of May, Market Forces would like to issue this clarification:
We know Santos is supportive of the Paris Agreement and the 2 degree global warming limit. Of course it does. Any company in the world smart enough to realise that supporting the Paris Agreement in itself looks pretty good but doesn’t actually oblige anything of the company will have already done that. Without action that matches this stated commitment, it is hollow.
Santos’ response misses the key point that Mr Coates was asked specifically at the AGM whether the company conducts its scenario analysis based on a 2 degree global warming pathway. That question, and Mr Coates’ response can be heard here:
The company may support the Paris Agreement but this response from Mr Coates not only clarifies that the scenario analysis is done on a 4 degree pathway, he clearly differentiates between a 4 degree and 2 degree scenario.
Santos has the freedom to issue all the clarifications it likes. However it would do its investors and the public a service by actually addressing the substance of our concerns, that the company is planning for a 4 degree outcome even though it has taken the time to say it supports the Paris Agreement’s 2 degree limit. If there is a substantive correction to make, we also suggest it is done on the ASX or the company’s investor centre (as opposed to an email to select investors and a post on Santos’ Community Facebook page) given that the original statements were made directly to shareholders at the company’s AGM.