Perhaps more than any other industry, oil companies are having to get to grips with the issue of climate change one of the top items at the Group of Eight summit. They are also more divided than other industries, with Shell appointing a “Mr or Mrs CO2” and ExxonMobil dismissing such initiatives as public relations.

ExxonMobil, the world's largest oil company, has drawn the ire of environmental campaigners by opposing the Kyoto agreement to curb carbon dioxide emissions and for investing almost nothing in renewable energy.