The last quarter of 2024 saw Ipieca take part in a number of UN events: UNFCCC COP29, UNCBD COP16, the UN Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights, as well as co-host an oil spill preparedness and response conference with the International Maritime Organization.
It seems fitting that the 50th anniversary since Ipieca was established at the request of the UN Environment Programme ended with such a strong UN focus. Check out our 50th anniversary milestones video below.
COP29 – the finance COP
Given its focus on climate finance, COP29 in Azerbaijan was widely referred to as a ‘finance COP’, and lived up to its billing, delivering the New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance, tripling finance to developing countries, from the previous goal of USD 100 billion annually, to USD 300 billion annually, by 2035.
Another key result from Baku was the finalisation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on how carbon markets will operate.
Convened in Cali, Colombia, the first biodiversity COP since the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) was adopted, COP16 was focused on reviewing progress and implementation of the GBF.
COP16 delivered the Cali Fund to provide financial support to share the benefits from the uses of digital sequence information on genetic resources, strengthened the role of Indigenous Peoples in biodiversity efforts and made progress on GBF target 6 on invasive alien species. Importantly, during the event, the COP16 presidency and the Brazilian UNFCCC COP30 presidency, worked closely to ensure nature is central to next year’s climate talks.
Human rights are at the heart of what Ipieca does, and I am proud to say that Ipieca supported the development and roll out of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). We take part in this yearly forum to share knowledge, lesson learned and good practice to help the industry and beyond put the UNGPs into practice.
10th Ipieca-IMO Global Initiative for West, Central and Southern Africa conference
The IMO is one of Ipieca’s longest standing UN partners – we work with them on marine fuels and products, as well as oil spill preparedness and response. Taking place in Togo, the conference brought together participants from 20 African countries to review progress in oil spill preparedness, share experiences and good practices, and set strategic priorities in the region.
One of Ipieca’s roles in COP events is to raise awareness and support for their outcomes. I did just that the day after COP29 finished, taking part in the Energy Intelligence Forum’s panel on COP29.
This was followed by our Response to spills of alternative fuels and energy products fact sheets. These are a good example of how Ipieca is advancing environmental and social performance across the energy transition. As we transition to a more sustainable future, alternative fuels and energy products are becoming more prevalent. These fact sheets provide concise information on response and clean-up options to manage and mitigate impacts to responder health, the environment and marine life.
While Ipieca is probably best known for its good practice guidance, a big part of what we do is sharing knowledge and building capacity.
In December, the Ipieca biodiversity peer-to -peer workshop took place. The 3-day workshop and field trip in Abu Dhabi, facilitated by IUCN and hosted by ADNOC, brought together 42 energy professionals to share biodiversity knowledge and build expertise.
With Arpel, API and IOGP we hosted regional webinars for Latin America to support companies new to or just starting their sustainability reporting journey. A big thanks to Ipieca member representatives for sharing their knowledge and advice in these sessions: Beatrix Wieczorek, Cláudia Krüger, Monica Tangarife and Melissa Restrepo.
Welcome ANGEA and Enbridge
Quarter 4 saw Ipieca membership grow even stronger with the addition of ANGEA and Enbridge.
I look forward to working with ANGEA, Enbridge and all our other member companies throughout 2025 as we continue to lead the industry through a sustainable energy transition.
Brian Sullivan
Chief Executive Officer
Brian joined Ipieca as the Chief Executive Officer in 2011 following a 23 year career in bp. He graduated in Metallurgy and Materials Science from Imperial College, London, UK and was recruited into bp's Refining and Marketing international graduate programme in 1986.
During his time with bp he has had a varied career of technical, commercial, financial and leadership roles across the downstream value chain including crude and products trading, marine fuels, lubricants and alternative energy.
During his tenure at Ipieca, he has overseen the growth of the Association and leads their contribution to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Paris Agreement and the Energy Transition. 2022 saw the launch of the Ipieca Principles, a new condition of membership promoting support for UN agreements and practices that align with them.
This document provides examples of how Ipieca companies are taking ambitious biodiversity actions which contribute towards the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
As we transition to a more sustainable future, alternative fuels and their associated products are becoming more prevalent in production, manufacturing and use. Their safe handling and prevention of spills is a priority.
The annual Ipieca sustainability reporting survey identifies trends in the sustainability reporting practices of Ipieca member companies. These are the results for 2024.
This guidance clarifies currently used terminology in the water stewardship space and presents users with a streamlined water stewardship action scheme that synthesises water frameworks and disclosure standards for the energy sector.