Beyond Greenwashing: Environmental Commitments and Gas Flaring in the African Oil Sector

Corporations follow through on their Zero Routine Flaring commitments globally, particularly in Africa where preexisting environmental standards are weak. Moreover, committers’ flaring reductions on the continent are driven primarily by operational improvements rather than ownership changes. While flaring increases for assets divested to, or continuously operated by, non-committers, corporate actions to uphold commitments have resulted in a conservatively estimated 11% net reduction in flaring in Africa. Contrary to greenwashing concerns, our findings suggest that environmental commitments are backed by corporate policies akin to establishing a uniform cost of pollution across the firm. These policies incentivize substantial environmental improvements and may serve as a useful tool to address the challenges posed by globally fragmented regulation.