Changes

Edmund John Philip Browne became group chief executive in 1995. The following year, to the surprise of many environmentalists and oil industry analysts, BP resigned from the Global Climate Coalition, which ridiculed the science pointing to human induced climate change and sought to undermine the Kyoto treaty negotiations. BP hired [[Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide]] to handle a massive $200 million public relations and advertising campaign. This campaign introduced a new logo and slogan as well as a new attitude. The re-branding - undertaken in the wake of major controversies in Europe over Shell's role in Nigeria and its ill-fated attempt to dump the disused Brent Spar oil platform in the ocean - was aimed at differentiating BP from its rivals. BP also sought to cultivate 'moderate' environmental groups in a series of 'partnerships' with groups like the [[National Wildlife Federation]]. [http://www.prwatch.org/prwissues/2001Q3/endangered.html] (See the [[BP and the National Wildlife Federation]] case study). Despite their corporate rebranding, BP failed to change many of their underlying activities. An clear example of this was when a Californian air quality regulatory agency sued BP for $319 million over what it alleged were thousands of violations of emissions standards at its Carson oil refinery in the port of Los Angeles in March 2003. [http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=20163&newsdate=14-Mar-2003] <b>For more, see <b>[[BP's Greenwashing and Recent Rebranding.]]</b>