BP announces a new net-zero strategy, leap in renewable-power capacity to 50 gigawatts by 2030

Energy group, BP, has announced a new strategy to deliver on its net-zero ambition. The energy giant is targeting a 10-fold increase in low-carbon investment by 2030 and a 30 percent – 35 percent decline in emissions from its operations by that year.

It also pledged to boost its renewable power generation to 50 gigawatts, while shrinking oil and gas output by 40 percent by 2030 compared with 2019.

The portfolio it plans to build would include renewables, bioenergy, and early positions in hydrogen and carbon capture and storage technology, with the bulk of the budget to be spent by 2025.

“These headline results have been driven by another very challenging quarter, but also by the deliberate steps we have taken as we continue to reimagine energy and reinvent BP,” said Bernard Looney, CEO of BP, in a statement.

The company also announced that it had halved its dividend to 5.25 cents per share for the quarter, compared to 10.5 cents per share for the first three months of the year.

The u-turn in its dividend policy was expected after European peer Royal Dutch Shell Plc slashed its own payout in April. Big Oil’s generous dividends have long been its main attraction to shareholders.

Experts say the move was hastened by the current pandemic but made inevitable by the transition to cleaner energy, and that it has redrawn the company’s investment profile.