BP's green energy chief set for exit amid earnings dip

The architect of BP's failed green energy agenda will leave the embattled oil firm within months, it was announced yesterday, as the company continues its retreat from low-carbon investments amid a sharp fall in profits.

- Jillian Ambrose

BP said Giulia Chierchia, the executive in charge of BP's sustainability strategy, would "pursue other opportunities" outside the firm from June this year. She will not be replaced.

The company announced her departure weeks after its chair, Helge Lund, said he would by next year, and later faced a shareholder rebellion at its AGM over his role in overseeing BP's failed green agenda.

Chierchia and Lund had faced questions over their future in the months since BP abandoned its green strategy in favour of a renewed focus on oil and gas to increase its profits and bolster its flagging market value.

The company's profits dropped by almost 50% in the first three months of this year to $1.4bn (£1bn), from $2.7bn in the same period last year. It reported the worse than expected start to the year after its annual profits fell by a third in 2024 to $8.9bn. BP's shares fell more than 2% yesterday.