Oil and gas companies are not only major contributors to climate change, they are also uniquely at risk from the impacts of global warming. But despite the dual legislative and operational risks they face, many are burying their heads in the sand and failing to properly assess climate change risks.

That is the stark conclusion of a major report from environmental consultancy Acclimatise, which assessed oil and gas companies' responses to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and found that while more than three quarters accepted that already inevitable levels of climate change would affect their business through increased downtime, system failures and rising safety risks, only 19 per cent were taking action to address those risks.


Speaking to BusinessGreen.com, Acclimatise chief executive John Firth said that while oil and gas firms were relatively adept at assessing extreme weather risks, they were guilty of largely ignoring the extent to which these risks will rise as a result of climate change.

He added that they were also failing to prepare for the likely impact of other climate change effects, such as rising sea levels and water shortages, on their operations.