US climate envoy John Kerry criticises big oil for backtracking

The US climate envoy has criticised big oil firms who are now maintaining fossil fuel investments after promising cuts to meet climate change targets.

President Biden's net zero chief, John Kerry, was speaking after Shell's chief executive told the BBC last week about the need for future oil investments.

Energy firms have been criticised for backtracking on climate change pledges.

Senator Kerry told the BBC said that any changes to these promises were "moving in the wrong direction".

His comments came on the sidelines of a meeting of net zero financiers and philanthropists ahead of President Biden's meeting with King Charles in Windsor.

Mr Kerry said any backtracking was "unnecessary" and "dangerous".

"What we need are company chief executives, looking to the future and investing in that future and accelerating the transition to that future," he said.

"Look, in the last few days, we've had scientists say this is terrifying , we have scientists saying we are in uncharted territory."

Last week, Shell boss Wael Sawen told the BBC that cutting oil and gas production would be "dangerous and irresponsible".

He said the world still "desperately needs oil and gas" given that attempts to replace it with renewable energy were not happening fast enough.

Mr Sawen also said energy prices and bills could be pushed higher by rising demand from China and a cold winter.

However, international climate scientists say fossil fuel projects should be closed down, not expanded, and argue there can be no new projects if there is to be a chance of keeping global temperature rises under 1.5C.

Earlier this month, the head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, told the BBC that if the world was serious about climate change then "we have to reduce the use of oil and gas significantly in the next years to come".

At the same event as Mr Kerry was speaking, the Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary, Grant Shapps, was broadly supportive of the Shell chief executive's stance, saying: "There always has to be a transition… but it doesn't just happen overnight, in fact it's idiotic to suggest you can.

"If you tried to, you simply impoverish people and tell people they can no longer drive and they can no longer heat their homes".