Exxon Mobil’s chief executive is currently urging European policymakers to abandon a key sustainability law, labeling it a “very misguided effort to kill oil and gas as a way of addressing climate change.”
These remarks from CEO Darren Woods, shared in a recent interview with The New York Times, closely follow similar criticisms from U.S. officials targeting the European Union’s aggressive strategies to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. Europe, having endured one of its hottest summers on record, is proactively implementing measures to safeguard its citizens and economies from severe weather events, which are increasingly worsened by the combustion of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas.
Woods confirmed discussions with both the Trump administration and European legislators regarding the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive. This regulation, adopted in 2024 after years of deliberation, mandates that large companies operating within the 27-nation bloc identify and mitigate negative environmental and human rights impacts across their global supply chains. Although its implementation timelines have been postponed, the directive is slated to take effect for companies starting in 2028.
“We view this as a significant obstacle to maintaining operations in Europe and operating a successful business there,” Woods stated. Exxon Mobil stands as the largest U.S. oil and gas corporation.
Under these new rules, companies operating in Europe will be required to develop strategies to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, aligning with the Paris Agreement’s objective to keep global temperature increases to manageable levels. This directive complements the European Union’s overarching legal commitment to achieve climate neutrality by mid-century.
To achieve its 2050 net-zero target, the European Union has also established legally binding short-term emission reduction goals. The bloc has pledged to slash emissions by 55 percent by 2030, relative to 1990 levels, and is currently deliberating on further reduction targets for 2035.
This Thursday, the European Union’s energy ministers are scheduled to convene to discuss the proposed 2035 and 2040 emissions cuts. Disagreements persist over the stringency of these reductions, casting doubt on whether a consensus can be reached in time to announce the 2035 targets before this year’s global climate summit in Belem, Brazil, slated for November.
The office of Wopke Hoekstra, the European Union’s climate commissioner, did not immediately provide a comment.
There is a broad scientific consensus that rising global temperatures are intensifying extreme weather events, such as droughts, storms, and wildfires, leading to trillions of dollars in economic losses over time.
European lawmakers argue that relying on renewable energy sources, like wind and solar, bolsters their energy independence, reducing reliance on other nations for power. This has become particularly critical since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, as Russia was a primary supplier of gas to European power plants.
While American fossil fuels have largely replaced Russian gas, Europe has also significantly accelerated its development of renewable energy infrastructure.
Mr. Woods explicitly called for the corporate sustainability directive to be “reversed and repealed.”
“The European policymakers have made a mistake,” he asserted, “and instead of rectifying the chaos they’ve created, they’re attempting to drag every American company doing business there into that mess.”
Several major oil companies are facing lawsuits in European and other courts concerning the environmental impact of their primary business: selling oil. The burning of this fuel releases greenhouse gases, contributing to dangerous global warming.
Historically, industrialized European nations have been among the largest polluters. Consequently, European Union lawmakers face increasing public pressure to transition their economies away from burning coal, oil, and gas. These net-zero regulations pose a significant challenge to oil and gas companies worldwide, particularly American firms, given their substantial role in supplying oil and gas to the continent.
During a recent tour of key European cities, Trump administration officials criticized these climate laws as products of “climate ideology” while simultaneously trying to secure more contracts for American oil and gas. Under the latest trade agreement with the United States, European officials pledged to purchase an additional $750 billion in oil and gas from the U.S. over the next three years of President Trump’s term. Many analysts, however, deemed this pledge impractical, noting it would necessitate a threefold increase in fossil fuel trade.
Currently, the United States is both the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas and its largest oil producer.