BP executive, Giulia Chierchia, the architect of the company’s green energy strategy, will step down on 1 June 2025, as the oil major accelerates its retreat from low-carbon investments and restructures its operations to focus on core oil and gas assets. The company confirmed she will not be replaced.
Chierchia’s departure comes amid mounting pressure from investors, including activist hedge fund Elliott Management, which recently acquired a 5% stake in BP and has called for a reversal of its climate agenda and tighter financial discipline. Her exit follows that of BP chair Helge Lund, who announced his intention to step down next year after facing shareholder backlash at the company’s annual general meeting.
Chierchia, EVP, strategy, sustainability & ventures at BP, hired by former CEO Bernard Looney in 2020 to drive BP’s net-zero strategy, had been central to the company’s push into renewables. However, in recent months BP has abandoned key green targets, redirecting capital into oil and gas to boost profits and market performance. Looney resigned in September 2023 following governance issues related to undisclosed relationships with colleagues.
The company’s first-quarter profits in 2025 fell sharply to $1.4 billion, down nearly 50% year-on-year, amid falling revenues and continued market uncertainty. Annual profits had already dropped by a third in 2024 to $8.9 billion, contributing to a slide in BP’s share price, which underperformed against industry peers.
As part of its strategic overhaul, BP announced it would simplify its structure by integrating the sustainability function into other parts of the business to enable “quicker decision-making and clearer accountabilities.” The oil major also pledged to reduce its capital expenditure by $500 million in 2025 to $14.5 billion, while ramping up divestments to between $3 billion and $4 billion this year. BP aims to sell off $20 billion worth of assets by the end of 2027.
“We announced a fundamental reset of our strategy in February – to grow the upstream, focus the downstream and invest with discipline in the transition – and we have already made significant progress,” said CEO Murray Auchincloss. The company has recently launched three new oil and gas projects and reported six exploration discoveries, signalling a decisive pivot back to fossil fuels after years of positioning itself as a leader in energy transition.
