Wednesday, May 26, 2021, is a day that will go down in history. On that day, two of the world’s giant oil companies were forced to speed up the process of converting their production to cleaner energy. And this is a great development.

Nothing proves that the issue of environmental protection has matured and gone beyond the efforts of some activists to the center of public interest than

the two decisions that were coincidentally announced on the same day regarding two colossal oil companies.

These companies had made great contributions to the development of our way of life in the last century, but now they are the main threat to humanity through environmental destruction.

Shareholders of ExxonMobil voted to replace two of its 12 members of the Board of Directors with others they consider more suitable for getting the company to switch to clean energy. This decision coincides with growing pressure on companies trading on the Stock Exchange to reduce environmental pollution.

Another giant oil company, Royal Dutch Shell, has been ordered by a court in its home country, the Netherlands, to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 45% by 2030. The court ruled that the company is not moving fast enough in this direction.

It is clear that these decisions are of enormous importance to the environment. Scientific studies leave no room for doubt. If we do not deal with the problem of environmental pollution immediately, its effects on planet Earth and therefore on humans can be catastrophic.

Of course, energy companies know this better than anyone, but as in the case of cigarettes – where despite the fact that the companies that produce them were aware of the deadly effects on their users, but continued their production to ensure their profitability – energy companies, like the cigarette producers, are spending millions of dollars through lobbyists to pressure politicians and misinform public opinion to ensure their profitability.

The result of these efforts, however, is that not only do they pollute the environment but they also endanger the future of those businesses.

There is no doubt that the world no longer tolerates the continued operation of these companies according to their old ways. People are demanding they convert to the production of much cleaner energy.

These are decisions of historic importance that will protect the air we breathe, the quality of the water we drink, and ensure that the sea does not rise to dangerous levels – in short, the decision affects everything. They are decisions of human self-protection taken – hopefully – before it is too late.