The Executive Leadership Team (ELT) has final responsibility for developing corporate strategy, implementing sustainability efforts and reporting company performance. The Executive Vice President (EVP), Strategy, Sustainability and Technology, who reports to the Chief Executive Officer, has overall accountability for corporate planning and development, including corporate strategy and long-range planning. The EVP, Strategy, Sustainability and Technology, also has ultimate responsibility for climate risk management and the implementation of our net-zero ambition. In addition, the Sustainability and Public Policy Executive Council (SPEC), a subcommittee of the ELT, has global oversight of existing and emerging SD and public policy risks and trends including SD and climate-related governance, strategic planning, risk management and public reporting. The SPEC consists of the following executives: 

  • EVP, Strategy, Sustainability and Technology 
  • EVP, Lower 48 
  • EVP and Chief Financial Officer
  • SVP, Global Operations 
  • SVP, Legal and General Counsel 
  • SVP, Government Affairs
  • Advisor to the CEO 

Members of SPEC were briefed five times in 2022 on priority topics such as climate change, biodiversity, water, human rights and stakeholder engagement. The council’s scope includes: 

  • Reviewing risk trends and setting priorities. 
  • Reviewing and approving public policy and sustainability policies, positions, strategies, goals and actions on priority matters. 
  • Prioritizing resource allocation to external engagement and initiatives. 
  • Recommending which issues warrant additional executive leadership, full ELT review or additional board engagement. 
  • Reviewing and endorsing agenda and meeting content for the Public Policy and Sustainability Committee (PPSC) of the board. 

The SPEC is also the governance link to the PPSC, whose oversight covers SD matters including climate and nature related risks. 

Linking Compensation to Sustainability Performance 

Executive and employee compensation includes the annual Variable Cash Incentive Program (VCIP). This annual cash bonus is based upon company and individual performance on metrics that include health, safety and environmental (HSE) performance as well as the achievement of milestones aligned with strategic SD priorities including managing climate-related risk. 

We engage with our stockholders regularly on SD priorities, and this feedback is reviewed with the Human Resources and Compensation Committee of the board when considering executive compensation programs. 

In 2022, our compensation program reflected demonstrated progress toward a Paris-aligned climate risk framework, including new methane and flaring targets, executing 90 operational emissions reduction projects and advancing business development opportunities for low-carbon investments. We achieved top quartile performance on credible ESG ratings, including MSCI, ISS ESG, Bloomberg ESG and DJSI rating frameworks relative to peers.

ConocoPhillips remained best in class among our peers for personnel safety performance in 2022, as employees collaborated to integrate acquired assets into business HSE systems and processes and completed multiple turnarounds without serious incidents.

Another factor in our compensation program was progressing the 2022 elements of our DEI priorities and tactics, including hiring a Chief Diversity Officer. We established a dedicated DEI organization, engaging a third-party company to obtain insights on the diversity of external talent pools, and published our 2021 Human Capital Management Report, while expanding DEI metrics on our internal dashboards.