Greenpeace And Exxon Mobil
GREENPEACE:
Greenpeace is a global organization that campaigns against environmental degradation and supports the continuation of our earth’s biodiversity. They are engaged in non violent direct action to ensure a cleaner and healthier planet for us and our future generations.
Greenpeace started on September 15, 1971 with a protest against the detonation of an underground nuclear device at the Aleutian island of Amchitka at Alaska. The nuclear test did happen later but the protest effectively prevented the series of four other tests planned in the same location.
It is engaged in a number of activities to bring about a change in attitudes and help conserve our fragile atmosphere and environment. More prolific of these are the fight against climate change by propagating the development and use of renewable energy sources instead of the traditional fossil fuels. As pointed out by Sheikh Zaki Yamani, former Saudi Arabian oil minister “The Stone Age did not end for lack of stone, and the oil age will end long before the world runs out of oil.” The other significant challenges led by Greenpeace are the prevention of destructive fishing, defending the world’s forests, disarmament and eliminating nuclear weapons, providing safer options against the use of hazardous chemicals in manufacturing processes of the present day products, encouraging organic farming and discouraging the use of harmful chemicals and pesticides in agriculture.
The Greenpeace mission statement is “Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organization,
which uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems, and to
force the solutions which are essential to a green and peaceful future”.
Its values statement is:
- protect biodiversity in all its forms
- prevent pollution and abuse of the earth's ocean, land, air and fresh water
- end all nuclear threats
- promote peace, global disarmament and non-violence
Greenpeace is an organization with a global presence. They are headquartered in Amsterdam
under Stichting Greenpeace Council. They run 28 national and regional offices worldwide and
operate out of 40 countries Their major branch offices are: Greenpeace Aotearoa New Zealand,
Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Greenpeace Chile, Greenpeace East Asia, Greenpeace India,
Greenpeace Nordic, Greenpeace USA.
Greenpeace funds are tax exempt under an organization known as Greenpeace Fund, Inc. which is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) charitable entity. This was granted in January 1988. Total numbers of employees are 2400 and additionally there are 14500 volunteers.
The biggest obstacles faced by Greenpeace have been the attitudes of Governments and corporations with regard to sustainable development in the social, environmental and economic spheres. 80% of the world’s energy requirements are met through the use of fossil fuels. 70% of the world’s fisheries are over exploited. These are alarming and need a paradigm shift from all. Greenpeace has initiated renewable energy solutions through the European renewable energy industry association (EREC) and is highlighting the current predicaments faced through conferences, seminars and meetings.
In June 2014, Greenpeace lost close to $5.2 million through currency trading. This was donor’s money which was lost and has angered all concerned. It was not just about the monetary loss but also the creditability loss. This has also resulted in the loss of 700 members of Greenpeace Germany, the branch that attracts the maximum donations. Greenpeace has done damage control exercises to minimize the effect of this.
EXXONMOBIL:
ExxonMobil is the world’s largest publicly traded international oil and gas company. It is the world’s largest refiner and marketer of petroleum products. Exxon evolved from Standard Oil Trust founded in 1882. ExxonMobil was formed on 30th November 1999 when Exxon and Mobil joined to form Exxon Mobil Corporation. The production and sale of fuels is the core activity at ExxonMobil. Petrol, diesel and LPG for motor vehicles, domestic fuel oil for heating in households and heavy fuels for power stations. It also produces petrochemicals for use in the manufacturing of plastics, synthetic rubber and solvents. ExxonMobil does not seek funds. It has contributed significantly, about 228 million in 2013 to various non-profit and charitable organizations in areas of education, health and environment. Their mission statement is "Exxon Mobil Corporation is committed to being the world's premier petroleum and petrochemical company. To that end, we must continuously achieve superior financial and operating results while simultaneously adhering to high ethical standards." Their values statement is "Shareholders We are committed to enhancing the long-term value of the investment dollars entrusted to us by our shareholders”.
ExxonMobil world headquarters are located at Irving, Texas. It also has business unit headquarters located at Fairfax, Virginia and Houston. It also has branch offices in North and South Americas, Europe, Middle East/ North Africa, Asia Pacific and Sub-Saharan Africa.
ExxonMobil is not tax exempt under (501c)(3). It has 82000 employees worldwide. It’s most recent revenues on 30th September 2014 were $107.49 Billion. They recorded a $8.8 Billion in second quarter profit for 2014. The company grew in leaps and bounds primarily due to near term operating synergies, Capital productivity improvements and technology synergies. It is the largest refiner in the world and its reserves were 25.2 BOE ( barrels of oil equivalent ) at the end of 2013. It is the world’s 5th largest company by revenues. A table with its performance in relation to completion is given below:
ExxonMobil main challenges today are the non-access to economically recoverable oil and gas resources, which are controlled by National oil companies and host governments are not available to international oil companies. The rising cost of services is another problem area, where commodity and manpower costs are on the upward trend. To deal with these the company has plans to use people in the 55-60 age group who are close to retirement, in the role of mentors, where they will be expected to pass on their experience and knowledge to the mentored. Also more focus on R&D to improve incremental advances rather than looking game changing technologies.
March 24th 1989, Exxon Valdez oil spill resulted in the discharge of approximately 11 million US gallons in Prince William Sound off the Alaskan coast. This is considered the worst oil spill in terms of environmental damage. Experts concluded that the oil could take decades, possible centuries to disappear. Exxon and the US Coast Guard began a massive operation to clean up the spill, and involved more than 1100 Alaskan residents and thousands of Exxon and contract staff. Exxon spent over $4.3 billion against settlements, clean up payments, compensation and fines.
References
Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/
Retrieved from http://corporate.exxonmobil.com/en/company/about-us
Retrieved fromhttp://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/about/
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