This week, IPIECA and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) launched Accelerating action: An SDG Roadmap for the oil and gas sector.

The new initiative identifies how IPIECA and oil and gas companies can work towards a low-emissions future while contributing to a healthier and more prosperous world aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The Roadmap was developed in response to the critical need for concerted action and coordinated solutions as the world approaches the 2030 deadline to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic reversing SDG progress in many areas.

The Roadmap outlines over 90 actions – mapped against SDG targets – which go beyond business as usual and aim to catalyse the realisation of the SDGs.

IPIECA Executive Director, Brian Sullivan, said: “Achieving the SDGs by 2030 will require unprecedented collaboration. The Roadmap aligns the oil and gas industry around the SDGs, presenting a shared vision for transformational action and a platform to form cross-sector partnerships and alliances to achieve the SDGs.”

WBCSD President and CEO Peter Bakker also commented: “Realising the SDGs requires widespread action across sectors. This important Roadmap aims to establish a standard for global best practice with regard to how the oil and gas sector and its value chain can drive the transformations that are urgently needed to realise the ambitions of the SDG agenda on the road to 2030.”

The Roadmap identifies 10 SDGs on which the industry can have the biggest impact by driving innovations in its own operations and across the supply chain.

These 10 SDGs underpin eight impact pathways grouped into three interconnected systemic themes of climate, nature and people.

The Roadmap impact pathways are made up of over 90 short, medium and long-term actions for IPIECA and oil and gas companies which involve scaling up good practices on climate action, environmental responsibility and social performance.

The Roadmap also leverages WBCSD’s SDG Sector Roadmap framework, which was launched in 2018 and has supported a wide range of industries to explore, articulate and realise their collective potential to advance the ambitions of the SDGs.

The release of the Roadmap was welcomed by the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA).

“APPEA members are keenly aligned with the UN’s SDGs, regarding important issues such as climate action, energy availability (particularly in relation to energy poverty) and efficiency as key business pillars. As such, the announcement of a new roadmap from a globally focused industry association such as IPIECA can guide Australia’s oil and gas industry as it further ramps ongoing efforts to contribute to a cleaner energy future in alignment with the UN SDGs,” the association said.