Lowering Greenhouse Gases Emissions from the Energy and Oil Companies in the European Union: An Economic Overview

Abstract

In the context of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) that has been passed by the EU Parliament in November 2022 and which fundamentally changes the ways how companies reporting are made and the type of sustainability reporting made by the companies targeted by the directive, in this paper it is analyzed and examined, according with the forerunning directive, Non-Financial Reporting Directive (NFRD), which have been made compulsory by the European Union starting with year 2014, the improvements that have been effectively made in the emissions of greenhouse gases by the largest 6 companies in terms of revenue that operate primarily in energy, oil and gas industries (either by upstream, midstream or downstream sectors) and are of continental European origins. In this article are highlighted the economical efforts of combating the greenhouse gases (GHG) and the efficiency of the measures taken, both individually and collectively by the aforementioned conglomerates. It is also discussed the economic efficiency, both cumulative and separately for each of the analyzed companies. As well, an overview of the reduction importance of greenhouse gases is presented by exposing the environmental measurements since first being reported at a scientific level. Keywords: oil and energy industry, sustainable profitability, environmental responsibility, non-financial directives, green investments