BP needs to go green - and mean it
Jul 28 2010 by Andrew Hebden, The Journal
THE Greenpeace activists who managed to shut down several London BP fuel stations yesterday hit the nail on the head with their timely reminder of the firm's pledge to move "beyond petroleum".
It is nearly a decade since the company adopted the slogan which was designed to prove that a business long regarded as a “dirty” oil and gas giant was committed to exploring greener energy alternatives.
But its efforts to transform its reputation have backfired spectacularly in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster.
BP has failed to seriously engage with the green energy agenda. Instead, it was satisfied to talk the talk on the environment without backing this up with real investment and action on the ground.
It is abundantly apparent too that the business has not made sufficient progress in changing its reputation for having a poor safety record.
It is for this reason that BP was right to relieve its chief executive Tony Hayward of his duties, despite his claim that he had been “vilified” over the crisis.
This decision was not simply a reflection of his inability to engage with the American people or for a series of PR blunders.
Rather, he has paid the price for failing to improve BP’s safety culture on taking over from Lord Browne, despite pledging to do just that.
He was happy too to keep the business focused on its core activities of oil and gas, even where that meant drilling in more dangerous waters.
Yesterday’s results – which saw the company plunge into the red – are financial evidence of Mr Hayward’s failings, beyond the appalling environmental consequences.
The £20m it has put aside is a colossal amount that really proves the scale of this crisis. It is in many ways a miracle that BP will survive this whole episode.
Survive, of course, it will. But under the leadership of Bob Dudley the company needs to begin to live up to the green image it created for itself.
