We must do all we can to propel Houston’s climate action plan
It’s hard to see much beyond tomorrow while Houston’s COVID-19 response is still underway and our leaders rightly focus on halting its spread and keeping us safe. But in all the tension of recent days, Houstonians may have missed an important development that will help prepare us not just for tomorrow, but for decades to come.
This week, Mayor Sylvester Turner released an ambitious blueprint to reduce Houston’s greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change. The overarching goal: make Houston carbon neutral by 2050.
The city’s plan proposes sweeping actions necessary to get us there. And as anyone who reads the plan will see, the journey won’t be easy, and it won’t happen overnight. But they will understand why this work must begin now — and why we must do everything we can to help move it forward.
Turner’s plan delivers prudent climate change action while keeping Houston’s economic engine running smoothly. It also continues a proud legacy of leveraging entrepreneurial innovation and technology to solve highly complex challenges.
We need that innovative spirit now more than ever.
As my friend and Greater Houston Partnership chairman Bobby Tudor puts it, the energy sector is “the central driver to the emergence and establishment of Houston as a leading global commercial and cultural center.” The energy sector should step up, along with communities and other industries, to meet the challenge of climate change. If we proceed with business as usual, Houston’s status as the world’s energy capital will be at risk.
And as the mayor’s plan notes, the challenges will only become more difficult as time goes on, compounded by stronger, slower-moving hurricanes, heavier floods and hotter summers.
BP cares because Houston is our home in America. With our U.S. headquarters here, we have more employees in Houston than anywhere else in the world. We’re committed to the city’s safety, prosperity and future.
Turner’s climate action plan also aligns with the low-carbon ambition our CEO Bernard Looney announced earlier this year: to become a net zero emissions company by 2050 or sooner and help the world do the same. Because it’s not enough for just BP to reach net zero, one of our key aims is helping cities decarbonize with integrated clean energy and mobility solutions.
More sustainable, more resilient cities are not only better for business in the long run; they’re safer for everyone. So while COVID-19 has brought challenges, the importance of reaching net zero has not gone away. This crisis only reinforces our determination to reimagine energy and reinvent BP.
Turner has shown visionary leadership on climate change, and the city now has an opportunity to move on this moment. BP is ready to do our part. We want to work with our colleagues in industry, academia and the nonprofit world. We are all in this together.
This is a challenge worthy of the Bayou City. Houstonians helped put a man on the moon. They unlocked mysteries of the earth thousands of feet below the ocean surface. From the seafloor to outer space, they have proven themselves time and again as fearless innovators, problem-solvers and collaborative entrepreneurs. This is a diverse community that evolves, grows and finds opportunity in the face of change and challenge.
It’s time to do that again, and we need all hands on deck. Energy companies are essential, but bringing our city to net zero requires leadership across the board — from business, academia, city of Houston departments, neighborhoods, communities, and non-profit organizations, students and residents.
Our CEO recently noted, “COVID is an acute issue; climate is chronic.” Turner understands this. Houston’s climate action plan gives us a bold blueprint to set the standard not only for our country, but also for our world.
BP looks forward to working with him and our fellow Houstonians to make this vision a reality.