Seeing Green Through the Eyes of National Oil Companies: A Comparison of Gazprom’s and Petrobras’ Environmental Sustainability

Abstract

The case studies of Gazprom and Petrobras are used to compare the interaction and relation between national oil companies, the state government and environmental policy. Specifically the paper seeks to address how the policy and interaction between the state government and the NOCs affect sustainable development of the preservation of the environment. The methodology used is set out by senior research international scholar, Eduardo Viola. He examines the state government’s position on the climate through three criteria: reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, domestic climate policies and the state’s international standing on the issue. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) GHG Inventory data, Brazil and Russia’s energy strategies and a third-party newspaper reporter will all be used to compare the two case studies. The research discovers that protection of the natural environment is an area of lesser importance to more predominant state goals of energy development and independence and the foreign policy agendas of legitimizing or leveraging the state’s energy capabilities towards other nations.