Organizational management

Sustainable Development Leadership Team  

The Sustainable Development Leadership Team (SDLT) is comprised of global business unit presidents and functional department heads supported by the SD team. Chaired by the vice president, Sustainable Development, the SDLT consults on and facilitates alignment on SD strategic priorities, goals, action plans and results throughout the company.  

Sustainable Development team  

The SD team is responsible for advising the ELT and board on long-term climate-related risks and opportunities for our business and ensuring that these issues are integrated appropriately into strategic decisions. The SD team reports to the SVP, Commercial, Strategy, Sustainability and Technology, who reports to the chief executive officer. The vice president, Sustainable Development, leads the standing SD agenda item for the PPSC. 

The SD team works closely with the Environmental Assurance group within the Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) function to provide and validate environmental metrics for public disclosure and track our performance against those metrics, aiming for completeness, accuracy and consistency. The groups collaborate so that appropriate climate risk tools, processes and procedures are developed and integrated into our activities. The SD team also works with the Low Carbon Technologies (LCT) organization on cross-functional efforts to achieve our net-zero operational emissions ambition. The individual SD and LCT governance processes are each fit-for-business governance structures established to drive oversight and accountability. 

Governance of net-zero operational emissions ambition  

We have a governance structure and decision framework to operationalize and achieve our net-zero operational emissions ambition through business planning, collaboration, project execution, technology advancement and innovation that complements our Sustainable Development governance structure and decision framework. The Net-Zero Executive Council (NZEC) and Net-Zero Leadership Team (NZLT) will provide direction and decision making necessary to properly resource and execute actions to achieve our net-zero ambition. Our executives’ engagement and ownership of these efforts will drive accountability and action across the company. 

NZEC provides oversight and direction on enterprise-wide strategies, policies and progress toward achieving our net-zero operational emissions ambition and interim emissions reduction targets. With coordinated membership and timing, NZEC and SPEC meet regularly to align net-zero objectives with our Climate Risk Strategy and external commitments. Responsibilities include: 

  • Setting strategic priorities relating to emissions reductions efforts, including goal setting, pace of execution and progress. 
  • Approving annual MACC budget, informed by the Operational Net-Zero Roadmap. 

NZLT, whose membership includes business unit presidents and leaders within LCT, HSE, Global Technical Functions, SD, IT, Planning and Development, Legal and Public Policy, provides oversight on operationalizing the net-zero operational emissions ambition in our business units and provides functional support and subject matter expertise. The NZLT addresses tactical implementation issues and decisions relating to target setting at the business unit level, ensuring alignment with corporate targets. Responsibilities include: 

  • Establish goals aligned with business unit emissions reduction programs, corporate targets and strategy. 
  • Drive accountability, alignment, focus and action for execution. 
  • Champion business unit strategy and endorse potential roadmaps. Read more in the 'Operational net-zero roadmap' section. 
  • Drive alignment and set consistent messaging across the organization. 

NZEC and NZLT are also supported and advised by the cross-functional Net-Zero Advisory Council (NZAC). NZAC are partners for collaboration alongside Low Carbon Technologies to: 

  • Provide input to marginal abatement cost curve program and road map submission process for clarity and observability to potential pathways to net-zero by 2050. 
  • Work with internal teams to address and articulate potential capital and resource requirements for meeting our operational net-zero ambition. 
  • Engage with internal stakeholders to ensure emissions reduction strategies are embedded into our core ConocoPhillips culture. 
  • Ensure we have the right tools and process to plan, execute and track our emissions reductions efforts within a flexible framework responsive to shifts in regulations and technology.  

Governance Alignment infographic

Operations

Each ConocoPhillips business unit is responsible for identifying and monitoring near and medium-term climate-related risks and opportunities and integrating sustainability issues, as appropriate, into day-to-day operations, project development and decision making. Business units participate in our internal HSE auditing program, quarterly submission of greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting, as well as quarterly risk management reporting to mitigate SD-related risks. They report risk management progress to the SD team for inclusion in the final results for our annual Variable Cash Incentive Program (VCIP) Strategic Milestones. 

The SD team leads the Climate Change Issues Working Group (CCIWG), an internal, global, cross-functional group for knowledge sharing among business units and functions. Subject matter experts from the business units are members of the CCIWG, which meets quarterly to discuss climate-related risk, including: 

  • Internal activities to address climate-related risks and opportunities, including energy efficiency and operational emissions reduction projects. 
  • Developments in operational emissions reduction technology. 
  • The outlook for carbon prices that might impact our operations. 
  • Climate-related long-range planning issues. 
  • Legislative and regulatory actions and related activities and positions of trade associations. 
  • Emerging climate-related risks. 

The objective of the CCIWG is to share key climate-related risk learnings across the company, identify issues and work to resolve them as they arise. The CCIWG also provides input from subject matter experts on climate-related processes, procedures and issues prior to review by the SDLT. 

Climate-linked compensation 

The company is closely engaged with the Human Resources and Compensation Committee to ensure our emissions reduction and climate-related goals continue to be reflected in our employee and executive compensation programs. Effective with our 2023 short-term VCIP, we created a separately weighted measure for “Energy Transition Milestones.” These milestones are guided by our Triple Mandate of meeting transition pathway demand, delivering competitive returns on and of capital, and progressing toward our net-zero operational emissions ambition. Creating a separate metric serves to add accountability, transparency and awareness to reducing our GHG emissions intensity and further enhance the link between our climate commitments and our executive compensation programs. 

In 2023, we achieved each of our Energy Transition Milestones, including: 

  • Demonstrating progress against our Plan for the Energy Transition. 
  • Achieving an annual GHG emissions intensity aligned with our improved 2030 target trajectory range. 
  • Executing our capital and cost budget for approved MACC projects. 
  • Advancing multiple low-carbon opportunities. 

Full results of our 2023 VCIP performance may be found in the 2024 Proxy Statement. 

Read more about how sustainability performance is considered in executive compensation. 

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