This report presents what Carbon Tracker believes companies would be capable of disclosing, if they were to apply their best efforts. A fossil fuel company’s ability to generate future net cash inflows is largely dependent on its ability to continue to find new economically recoverable hydrocarbon resources and develop these into producing assets; a process which requires significant ongoing capital expenditure. Carbon Tracker research has shown that it is future resources and reserves that have not yet been developed into producing assets that are at greatest risk of stranding in a 2°C world. However, current accounting and disclosure practices offer investors little visibility over this.
The model disclosure aims to give investors transparency over the long-term climate-related risks that the sector is exposed to by focusing on the exploration activities and the decision-making process employed by management when approving reserves and resources for development.