Mainstream ESG scorecards mix every sector into one basket, hide their weights, and reward disclosure volume over real-world performance. Green Stars is the opposite — sector-native, open-weight, and safeguarded. Every metric, coefficient and override on this page is public so the rating can be audited line by line.
01 · Pillar
Every weight, threshold and safeguard is disclosed in plain text — not buried in a licensed data product. Any analyst can recompute a company's score from the published inputs and reproduce the level within one decimal of our number.
02 · Pillar
We measure outcomes, not the thickness of a sustainability report. Emission intensity, TRIR, recycling rate and committed transition CapEx carry the weight; glossy narratives carry none. Good reporting without measurable change moves no stars.
03 · Pillar
Oil and gas is physical, capital-heavy and methane-exposed. The rubric matches: methane management is a full pillar, transition-capex a fifth of the score, spill records sit alongside water use. Comparing to a tech company would be meaningless.
Each metric is scored on a 0–20 scale. The weighting reflects how strongly the metric moves real climate, safety and community outcomes in an upstream oil and gas business.
M1
20%
Kilograms of CO₂-equivalent per barrel of oil-equivalent, scope 1 and 2. This is the highest single weight because direct operational emissions dominate an upstream company's climate footprint.
M2
15%
OGMP 2.0 disclosure level, continuous monitoring coverage and leak-detection cadence. Methane traps roughly eighty times more heat than CO₂ over a twenty-year horizon, so tight management changes outcomes fast.
M3
20%
Science-Based Targets depth, share of low-carbon CapEx, and a credible retirement plan for fossil assets. Weighted equally with GHG — a pure reduction on today's barrels without a transition plan is not a decarbonising business.
M4
10%
Freshwater withdrawal intensity, recycling rate, and the multi-year spill record. In water-stressed basins a small operational footprint is the difference between accepted and contested projects.
M5
15%
Total recordable incident rate, ISO 45001 certification and five-year fatality count. Safety tracks operational discipline: a site that protects its workforce is measurably better run on every other dimension.
M6
10%
Board-level ESG committee, ESG-linked executive compensation, and alignment with SASB and GRI 11 disclosure standards. Governance is how commitments survive a change of CEO.
M7
10%
Free, prior and informed consent with indigenous peoples, supply-chain audits, and local-hire share. Community licence is the pre-condition for every other metric on the list.
The total is the dot product of the seven metric inputs and their published weights, then adjusted by the safeguards in the next section. No undisclosed multipliers, no proprietary black box.
Total score
Realistic inputs from §13 of the concept spec. Before the improvement bonus, this company sits at the top of the Competent tier.
| Metric | Input (0–20) | Weight | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| GHG | 12 | 0.20 | 2.40 |
| Methane | 14 | 0.15 | 2.10 |
| Transition | 9 | 0.20 | 1.80 |
| Water | 13 | 0.10 | 1.30 |
| Safety | 14 | 0.15 | 2.10 |
| Governance | 11 | 0.10 | 1.10 |
| Community | 10 | 0.10 | 1.00 |
| Weighted total | 11.8 | ||
| Improvement bonus (+0.5) | +0.5 | ||
| Final total | 12.3 | ||
With the improvement bonus applied, the total reaches 12.3 — rating Competent (three leaves). A single zero-scored metric would trigger safeguard #2 and cap the total at 8.99, regardless of the weighted sum.
Thresholds are fixed across every sector version of Green Stars so totals remain comparable. No curve, no forced distribution.
Laggard
No disclosure, no transition plan, or a major recent controversy.
0 – 4.9
Emerging
Disclosure in place, baseline targets set but not externally validated.
5 – 8.9
Competent
SBTi commitment, multi-year trends visible, safety and governance in line with industry norms.
9 – 12.9
Leader
Validated near-term targets, measurable year-on-year reduction, board-level ESG governance.
13 – 16.9
Exemplary
Net-zero pathway, best-in-class methane management, zero fatalities over five years.
17 – 20
The weighted sum alone can be gamed by averaging a strong narrative against a single toxic metric. Three overrides keep the rating honest.
Safeguard 01
+0.5 on the final total when year-on-year improvement is at least two points. Rewards real movement, not steady-state excellence.
Safeguard 02
If any of the seven metrics scores a zero, the final total is capped at 8.99 — the top of the Emerging band. One blind spot is enough to disqualify a Leader claim.
Safeguard 03
Major incidents — fatal accidents, significant spills, proven corruption cases — impose an explicit cap on the current year, regardless of the weighted sum.
Green Stars is computed from standardised, auditable disclosures. We do not accept private submissions that have not been cross-checked against at least two of the sources below.
CDP
Carbon Disclosure Project — standardised climate questionnaires with externally reviewed responses.
GRI 11
Oil & Gas sector standard covering operational emissions, community impact and transition planning.
SASB
Sustainability Accounting Standards Board — industry-specific, financially material disclosure topics.
IPE Blue Map
Institute of Public & Environmental Affairs — real-time emissions data for Chinese operators.
Open the catalog to compare the first cohort side by side, then inspect CNOOC's full profile to see how the methodology resolves into live charts, evidence, and safeguards.