Try GOLD - Free
BP Appoints New Chair to Lead Shift Back to Fossil Fuels
The Guardian
|July 22, 2025
BP has appointed a successor to its embattled chair, Helge Lund, as it breaks from its net zero strategy and pivots back to fossil fuels.
Albert Manifold, a former boss of the building material firm CRH, will join the BP board on 1 September as a non-executive director and as chair-elect before taking over on 1 October.
BP announced in April that Lund, the chair since 2019 and an important figure in the company's abandoned green push, would step down from his position "most likely during 2026". Lund also suffered an investor rebellion at BP's annual meeting amid pressure over its poorly performing share price.
The change comes amid a broader strategic shift at BP as it cuts back on green spending and refocuses on oil and gas after a botched bid to reinvent itself as a net zero energy firm.
Manifold was chief executive of CRH for a decade until the end of last year, and led the shift in the company's primary listing from London to New York in 2023.
This story is from the July 22, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM The Guardian
The Guardian
Heroic foodstuffs star in bonkers sort-of opera
Spare a thought for Amy J Payne, the gutsy mezzo-soprano who plays the title role in Opera North’s Pass the Spoon.
2 mins
December 15, 2025
The Guardian
At least 16 dead in terror attack on Jewish festival
Australia's prime minister condemned \"an act of evil antisemitism\" yesterday after gunmen opened fire on a Jewish festival at Sydney's Bondi beach, killing at least 16 people, including a child, and injuring dozens more.
3 mins
December 15, 2025
The Guardian
'It was a massacre'
Witnesses describe the horror - and the bravery
3 mins
December 15, 2025
The Guardian
Woltemade's bizarre own goal gifts Sunderland win
Eddie Howe is not the first, and is unlikely to be the last, manager outwitted by Régis Le Bris this season but few are likely to find the experience quite as painful.
3 mins
December 15, 2025
The Guardian
'It will not define us'
Howe rues 'freak' goal but vows to discard derby loss
1 mins
December 15, 2025
The Guardian
Comcast Proposed ITV takeover would have effect on public service broadcasting
The prospect of Comcast taking over ITV has prompted concerns about the impact on British public service broadcasting, a fact that Channel 4's new chief executive, moving from a senior post at Sky, will be all too aware of.
4 mins
December 15, 2025
The Guardian
Belarusian street protest leader freed from jail says: 'I don't regret anything'
The Belarusian street protest leader Maria Kolesnikova, who was freed at the weekend along with 122 other prisoners after more than five years in jail, has said she has no regrets about her role in the opposition against the autocratic president, Alexander Lukashenko.
3 mins
December 15, 2025
The Guardian
McCullum keeps faith in batting lineup with jobs on line
The seriesis on the line and, inalllike-lihood, jobs with it.
3 mins
December 15, 2025
The Guardian
Unpaid fees leave Ghanaian students at risk of deportation
Students from Ghana at UK universities say they are at risk of deportation after being stranded by their own government without promised scholarships or tuition fee payments.
1 mins
December 15, 2025
The Guardian
Dressed up like a dog winner: dachshunds do festive walkies
The pitter-patter of tiny paws brought joy - and more than a little chaos - to Hyde Park in London as hundreds of dachshunds and their owners gathered for the annual sausage dog Christmas walk yesterday.
1 mins
December 15, 2025
Listen
Translate
Change font size