Petroleum giant BPThe CEO of the company stated that he is fully committed to combating climate change. However, he stressed that oil and other hydrocarbons will continue to be a part of the energy mix over the years.

CNBC spoke to Bernard Looney on Monday, BP’s chief executive.

“What I want us to do is to focus on the objective — and I wish we had less ideological positions and more focus on the objective — which in this case is to drive emissions down.”

He stated that the replacement of coal by natural gas would reduce carbon emissions and “has to happen.”

He said that “and then over time, we will decarbonize natural gas,” speaking to CNBC’s Hadley Gamble during the ADIPEC energy sector forum in Abu Dhabi.

Looney of BP highlighted May’s International Energy Agency “Net Zero” Report. noted that, in 2050, global oil supply “in the net zero pathway” would still amount to around 20 million barrels per day,

“So, objectively speaking, anyone who is honest will agree that hydrocarbons do have a function. Now the question becomes: how do we address this? Looney explained that one should strive to create hydrocarbons as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Looney’s remarks come just after the end of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. Nearly 200 countries agreed that they would “phase down coal use” (rather “phase in”), with China insisting that the language be changed at the last moment. They also pledged to eliminate fossil fuel subsidies.

Global media reacted mixed to the deal, and activists for climate change said that it doesn’t go far enough.

Continue reading: ‘Still on the road to hell’: Global media reacts to COP26 climate deal

Looney claimed that BP made drastic changes to concentrate on renewables. She said, “I don’t think anybody would be able to look objectively at BP and claim we are not moving into the transition.”

We had less than 10 gigawatts of renewables 12 months ago, but today have more than 23 gigawatts. 12 months ago, we didn’t have any offshore wind. Today we are one of the largest and most rapidly growing countries in America and Britain with 3.7 gigawatts. We had very little in hydrogen, today we have a great partnership with Adnoc, with Masdar and BP that will develop hydrogen — blue and green — over time,” he said.

“So we are dedicated, we all are in that,” he said.

Looney claimed that key lessons from the COP26 summit include “more ambition”, “real focus on methane”, and work on global carbon markets – I believe these are all good things. It is clear that there are many more things to be done.

Looney’s comment on the role oil and natural gas continue to play within the energy system is similar to those made by energy-export-dependent countries who participated in the summit.

Next, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Secretary, told the attendees that it was not necessary to abandon any one energy source in global efforts against climate change.

He stated that it was important to recognize all climate solutions…without any bias against or for any one source of energy.

He stated that the international community should work together in order to address climate change as well as to assist less-developed countries, “without jeopardizing their path to sustainable development.”

Saudi Arabia, together with Russia, is the third largest oil producer in the world. The country is working to diversify away from crude oil production. This is no easy task, as oil remains the country’s primary export and main economic source.

Looney of BP said that he is concerned over the supply for the transition. Looney stated that if there are fewer oil and natural gas available, prices could rise which will be a huge blow to consumers.

High prices do not benefit consumers. It could actually have the negative effect of turning people against it. [energy]He said, “Transition.”

So we need to ensure that we have a credible plan for transition that works on both supply and demand. We can achieve the change the world desires, but we do so in a way that people are able to join us.