Kenneth P. Cnhen vice President Public Affairs Exxen Mubil Curporatiun 5959 Las Colinas Boulevard Irving, Texas TESS-2298 ExonMobil September 25, 2006 Lord Rees of Ludlow Kt PRS President The Royal Society 6?9 Carlton House Terrace London SW1Y 5AG Dear Lord Rees: Recent actions and public statements by one or more representatives of the Royal Society have incorrectly and unfairly described our company and our approach to climate change. The issues relating to anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, energy use and climate change are complex and varying points of view exist on how to address the difficult, I technological and policy challenges. The use of fossil fuels is a major source of carbon dioxide emissions. Given the impc that fossil fuels play in providing energy for the global economy, the issues of global development, future energy supply, and climate change are closely linked. In light of interests that governments, our shareholders and customers, and the public at large these issues, we recently published the enclosed report entitled "Tomorrow?s Energy: Perspective on Energy Trends, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Future Energy Optic ong-term )rtant role economic the savein ,4 Section 2 of that report covers the topic of global climate change. This section briefly reviews what we know about the science of global climate change, including observations of' warming since the mid-18003 and a 30 percent increase in the atmospheric concentr carbon dioxide and a doubling of methane levels. Our report states: We recognize that the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmo :he world?s ation of sphere ctivities poses risks that may prove significant for society and a have contributed to these increased concentrations [of greenhouse gases], ainly through the combustion of fossil fuels for energy use; land use changes (esp cially deforestation); and agricultural, animal husbandry and waste-disposal practic with many scientific uncertainties, the risk that greenhouse gas emissions ma have serious impacts justifies taking action. ExxonMobiI has undertaken climate change research for 25 years and our work has reduced more than 40 papers in peer-reviewed literature (as listed on our web site: Exxonlvlo Our scientists serve on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Cha ge and numerous related scientific bodies. In addition, we have conducted and support scienti?c, economic and technological research on climate change for more than two ExxonMobiI has supported major projects at such institutions as the Massachusetts Technology, Stanford University, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resource Eco Batelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Princeton University, Charles River Associates Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction, the International Energy Agency Greenhouse Programme, Yale University, The University of Texas, Carnegie Mellon University, ar Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University. decades. nstitute of nomics, the rdthe ExxonMobil is taking action to address global climate change, including among others: Repor?ng. ExxonMobil is committed to consistent, comprehensive annual reporting of our greenhouse gas emissions, which we began in 1998 with respect to our own operations and have since expanded to include our equity interests in operations in which we share ownership. ExxonMobil encouraged and supported the development of cost?effective, reliable, industry endorsed methods to measure and report greenhouse gas emissions from the petroleum industry (through the American Petroleum Institute and International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association). We also support the enactment of federal legislation to mandate the reporting of annual greenhouse gas inventories to the U. S. Department of Energy. Global Climate Energy Project at Stanford University. In an effort to apply the combined resources of industry and academia to the challenge of identifying fundamental new leads for innovative technologies that meet growing energy demand while dramatically reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Exxonl?vlobil, along with Toyota, General Electric and Schiumberger, launched the $225 million Global Climate and Energy Project (GCEP) at Stanford University in December 2002. GCEP is the largest privately-funded, long term research program of its type in the world, with a charge to accelerate the development of commercially viable energy technologies that can lower greenhouse gas emissions on a worldwide scale. Its stated mission is "to conduct fundamental research on technologies that will permit the development of global energy systems with significantly lower greenhouse gas emissions." current technology focus is on hydrogen production, storage and use; biomass and solar energy; carbon dioxide capture and storage; and advanced transportation and coal technologies. have also enclosed a copy of the latest report of the important work being done by GCEP. A full list of ongoing projects is available on the GCEP web site at A symposium was held this month to share progress in all these areas with the wider scientific community. Advanced Vehicle Technoiody__Research. Exxonlvlobil is undertaking joint research on advanced vehicle technologies with Toyota and Caterpillar, to develop high efficiency, low-emission gasoline and diesel fuel engine systems. Mitigating Greenhouse Gas Emissions Through Ef?ciency Systems and Best Practices, ExxonMobll has reduced emissions in our own operations through improved efficiencies that have resulted from our Global Energy Management System reduced flaring of natural gas at production sites; and investing to expand cogeneration capacity at our refineries (at a cost of $1 billion in 2004 - 2005). These and other actions implemented since 1999 enabled our company in 2005 to avoid ?11 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions, or the equivalent of taking about 2 million cars off the road. We are working now to identify and implement additional measures to more than double these reductions in the near future. At ExxonMobil, we believe that good governance is based on good ideas - and that good ideas are based on a respect for facts, rigor in thinking, rationality in debate and civility in discourse. As the largest non-government petroleum and petrochemicals company, we seek to play a positive role in the on-going dialogue about the future of energy - one which is grounded in fact, focused on the long term and intent on finding viable solutions. Selecting appropriate policies that balance economic growth, human development and the risks of climate change is a daunting task. Managing those risks will require sequential, ongoing actions and policy decisions over many decades that will be informed by what we know and what we do not know at each period. Scienti?c and technical research should play a critical role in the debate by addressing and improving our understanding of the well-known scientific and technical uncertainties inherent in climate change. The Royal Society should welcome the diversity of opinions on all scientific issues. Taking the position that any person or organization that disagrees with the Royal Society on an important scienti?c issue should be publicly vilified is surely counterproductive for the development of scienti?c theory, ignores freedom of expression and is hardly consistent with the Society's stated objective of promoting excellence in science. Lord Rees, when you took over as Chairman you said that the Royal Society's work should lead to a better quality of life and an increase in prosperity. Our own objective, as it relates to climate change, is to seek solutions that protect the environment but do not threaten the aspirations of the billions of people who desire and deserve a better quality of life. Is that not a road to be on? We have a role to play in the policy discussions on these subjects. It is disappointing that representatives of the Royal Society find it appropriate to intentionally misstate our actions and positions relating to these important topics. Sincerely, 4/5 Enclosures