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Posted on 8th February 2023 |
Show only this post Show all posts in this thread (Business Ethics). |
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This BBC article reports on the announcement by British Petroleum (BP) of record profits: £23bn in 2022, double what it made the previous year. At the same time it announced that it is scaling back its commitments to reduce carbon emissions by reducing its oil and gas output. The article also reports that other energy firms experienced similar increased profits, with Shell making almost $40bn. How are these soaring profits ethical? Clearly these oil companies are profiting at the expense of consumers. Just because the price of oil has increased does not mean that profits have to increase. Add to that the walking back of the targets for carbon emission reductions, and there there is no question (at least in my mind) that these companies care nothing about the financial of their consumers and the damage that they do to the environment. Some people have been calling for governments to levy a windfall tax on oil companies, and since they can't control their greed, that seems to be the sensible option. | |