Study: Europe oil majors fall short of UN climate goals
Study: Europe oil majors fall short of UN climate goals/node/1745786/business-economy
Study: Europe oil majors fall short of UN climate goals
None of Europe’s major oil companies are on course to meet the Paris Agreement’s goals on limiting global warming, according to the TPI study. (Shutterstock)
Study: Europe oil majors fall short of UN climate goals
BP and Royal Dutch Shell named among 59 firms not meeting conditions set in Paris Agreement
Updated 08 October 2020
Reuters
LONDON: Europe’s top oil companies are not yet aligned with UN-backed targets to combat climate change despite their plans to slash carbon emissions and pivot to renewable energy, a report from major investors has found.
The study by the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI), which unites investors with $22 trillion in holdings, comes as shares of European energy companies including BP and Royal Dutch Shell have struggled amid concerns over their ability to successfully shift away from oil and gas.
TPI’s analysis of 59 major oil, gas and coal companies said that seven European firms — Glencore, Anglo American, Shell, Repsol, Total, Eni and Equinor — have set out plans to align with long-term pledges made by some governments to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
But those targets equate to global temperatures rising by 3.2 degrees and are “widely regarded as insufficient to avert dangerous climate change,” the report said.
No company would meet the UN-backed Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to “well below” 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels by cutting emissions to net zero.
Several of the firms said in statements that they disagreed with the way TPI calculates the alignment, based on fuels’ carbon intensity.
“We’re very happy that some oil and gas companies are seeing these fundamental changes and trying to respond,” said Bill Hartnett, stewardship director of ESG Investment at Aberdeen Standard Investments, a TPI member.
“Some (companies) might have made bigger statements so far than the others and the important thing is the direction of travel. But none of them are making net zero yet.”
BP, whose CEO Bernard Looney plans to grow the company’s renewables business twenty-fold by the end of the decade, is the least aligned among the European companies, not even meeting the government pledges level, according to the report.
BP said in response that it disagreed with TPI’s focus on carbon intensity, which it said was not “a reliable measure.”
Fossil fuels are the main cause of greenhouse gas emissions.
Investors such as Aberdeen are regularly talking to companies about their Paris Agreement alignment on issues including emissions from fuels sold, known as Scope 3 emissions, and their memberships in energy associations around the world, Hartnett said.
“Engagement is ongoing and there is pretty good momentum on getting toward Paris alignment.”
A Shell spokeswoman said the company continues “to engage with TPI over their methodology” to show it is how it is aligned with “society’s move toward” the Paris goals.
Anglo American said in a statement: “achieving these targets is not all within our control, so we are working with governments, industry peers and civil society.”
Repsol said: “We will continue to engage with TPI to demonstrate our progress in this respect.”
Eni said: “We consider the best way for companies to align with such goals is to set absolute emissions targets.”
Total, which aims to be carbon neutral in Europe by 2050, said in a statement that the rhythm of the transition will depend on energy demand and policies put in place.
Experts reveal how AI is reducing burnout and streamlining workflows
Updated 05 February 2026
Nada Hameed
JEDDAH: Artificial intelligence is increasingly moving from the margins of healthcare innovation into its operational core. Rather than replacing clinicians, AI is being deployed to address persistent challenges across health systems, from administrative overload and staff burnout to fragmented data and inefficient patient flow.
Speaking to Arab News, Abbes Seqqat, chief executive officer of Rain Stella Technologies, and Eric Turkington, chief product officer, discussed how AI is already transforming healthcare delivery — and why its impact is most meaningful when embedded directly into clinical workflows rather than treated as a standalone tool.
Seqqat describes AI’s role as accelerating a structural shift in healthcare delivery. “AI is accelerating the shift in healthcare from reactive to proactive care, because AI fundamentally helps detect, analyze and predict,” he said, noting that many health systems lack the resources to perform these tasks at scale.
While AI use cases in healthcare are broad, Seqqat emphasized that the most effective applications today focus on operational and clinical fundamentals, including reducing administrative burden, identifying patient risks earlier, and capturing clinical data more reliably and in real time.
RST’s portfolio reflects this approach, spanning surgical data capture and workflow automation, cloud-based electronic medical records, and health information exchange. Across these systems, the common goal is improving data quality and usability so clinicians can spend less time managing information and more time delivering care.
According to Turkington, RST’s systems rely on a mix of established and emerging AI technologies.
RST's Equinox offers a streamlined workflow, minimizing redundant data entry, and also allows for seamless integration with other systems. (RST images)
“Across the portfolio, we are using a wide range of AI and predictive technologies, from voice technology to reliably capture clinician inputs, to large language models that analyze and act on collected data,” he said.
A key focus has been adapting AI to regional and clinical realities. Voice models, for example, have been trained on UAE and GCC accents and grounded in medical terminology to improve accuracy in real-world settings. RST also uses retrieval-augmented generation and multi-agent AI architectures, allowing different AI components to perform specialized tasks such as classifying surgical notes, identifying unusual events, or assisting with billing and coding, Turkington explained.
DID YOU KNOW?
• AI can detect, analyze, and predict patient risks faster than traditional methods.
• Systems like Equinox use voice input and predictive analytics to actively support clinical decisions.
• AI assistants provide real-time updates, automate documentation, and improve coordination in operating theaters.
One of the central concerns around AI adoption is whether it adds complexity to already demanding clinical roles. Seqqat argues the opposite should be the goal.
“For nurses and frontline staff, AI’s greatest contribution is removing the invisible administrative friction that leads to burnout,” Seqqat said.
In operating theaters, AI systems can replace manual coordination methods such as phone calls and whiteboards by providing real-time situational awareness. By automating updates, anticipating delays, and serving as an on-demand clinical notepad, AI reduces cognitive load and allows staff to remain focused on patient care, he explained.
RST’s voice-enabled assistant, Orva, is designed specifically for perioperative environments.
Orva captures live updates through voice input, enabling it to surface delays, flag bottlenecks, and prompt coordination between departments. (RST photo)
Turkington said it enables hands-free documentation and coordination, helping surgical teams manage schedules and resources more effectively.
By capturing live updates through voice input, Orva can surface delays, flag bottlenecks, and prompt coordination between departments. It also assists with documentation and coding, reducing errors and supporting more accurate reimbursement— an area where incomplete records often create downstream challenges.
Electronic medical records remain central to healthcare delivery, but Turkington noted that AI can move them beyond passive data repositories.
Eric Turkington, chief product officer of Rain Stella Technologies. (RST photo)
“We designed Equinox as an EMR that enables you to spend less time with the software and more time with patients,” Turkington said.
Through voice input, automated documentation from visual annotations, and AI-generated pre-visit summaries, the system can actively support clinicians rather than slow them down. Predictive analytics, such as identifying no-show risks or highlighting care gaps, further shift EMRs toward decision-support tools rather than administrative obligations.
Both executives stressed that AI’s effectiveness depends heavily on data access and quality. Seqqat pointed to interoperability as a prerequisite rather than an afterthought.
“AI is only as powerful as the data it can access,” he said, adding that fragmented records limit both clinical insight and system-wide learning.
Health information exchanges, such as RST’s Constellation platform, enable patient data to be viewed longitudinally across providers. AI can then assist with patient identity matching and population-level analysis, allowing trends and risks to be identified across large datasets.
Turkington shared an example from an operating theatre where AI helped prevent cascading delays. When a surgical case ran late, a nurse verbally updated Orva that the patient was ready to exit. The system alerted the recovery unit, analyzed schedule conflicts, and prompted management to reassign staff before delays affected subsequent procedures.
Opinion
This section contains relevant reference points, placed in (Opinion field)
By tagging the cause of the delay and feeding that data into predictive models, the system helped prevent similar issues in the future — without additional manual coordination.
According to Seqqat, the primary returns from AI adoption come from combining efficiency with financial accuracy. Streamlined workflows allow providers to treat more patients without compromising care, while improved documentation reduces revenue leakage.
Looking ahead, Seqqat sees AI becoming central to Saudi Arabia’s healthcare transformation. He described its role as advancing smart hospitals, predictive patient flow, and precision medicine aligned with Vision 2030 goals.
“The role of AI in Saudi Arabia’s healthcare sector is evolving from a supporting technology to a foundational pillar of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 transformation. Over the next few years, we expect to see AI move into the realm of smart hospitals, where predictive analytics optimize patient flow and AI-driven precision medicine leverages the Saudi Genome Program to provide hyper-personalized care. By unifying national health data and automating complex administrative workflows, AI will enable a more proactive, value-based healthcare model that improves patient outcomes and operational efficiency across the country.”
