Seven new oil and gas projects approved since IPCC report called for an end to fossil fuels

It’s “now or never,” said the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published on Monday. It called on governments to start staving off emissions to save the planet from irreversible climate disaster.

Between now and never, some are apparently choosing never, as new projects announced this week continue to fund fossil fuel production around the world.

The IPCC warned that if we keep going at our current pace, we will exceed 3°C of global warming by 2030.

And yet it seems that, in the midst of an energy crisis led by the consequences of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, the urgency of the IPCC’s message hasn’t reached everyone.

Here’s a list of all the new gas and oil projects announced after the IPCC reports came out on 4 April.

On Monday, Exxon announced it will invest $10 billion (€9 billion) in a new offshore project off the coast of Guyana, the company’s fourth oil production development in the country and so far the largest in Latin America.

The project, called YellowTail, has been approved by the government of Guyana and is expected to produce 250,000 barrels of oil per day.

Exxon already has three other projects in the Stabroek block, an oil reservoir covering an area of 26,800 square kilometres off the coast of Guyana, and sees potential for 10 more developments.

And they’re not the only ones.

As part of its new energy strategy, the UK government announced on Thursday that licensing of new oil and gas projects in the North Sea will start this autumn.

Environmental campaigners and climate activists reacted with outrage to the move, but the UK government has defended itself saying such projects are necessary to achieve energy autonomy, with a view to getting rid of the uncomfortable