Smoke and mirrors. This is representative of Exxon's general strategy. There is a partial admission of the dangers of climate warming, followed by an absolute refusal to change trajectory. This has not changed, and as long as capital depends on it, it never will.

The headline is not necessarily misleading. It paints an incomplete picture, though. These paragraphs in the article are more relevant (to me) than Exxon's immaterial admissions concerning climate change:

ExxonMobil’s Energy Outlook typically shows strong demand for oil and natural gas for decades into the future even as the world attempts to reduce emissions.

“We are seeing clear signs that coal is sticking longer from an energy security and other perspectives, specifically in parts of Asia-Pacific, China, and others,” Joshi said.

In Exxon's Global Executive Summary, mentioned in the article, coal use is predicted to decrease by 30% by 2050 to be replaced by renewables and natural gas. This is, at best, replacing fossil fuels with fossil fuels.

The mention of including fewer emission-reduction technologies and fewer CCS projections was also interesting:

Other changes in ExxonMobil’s outlook include fewer emission-reduction technologies. Projections for carbon capture and storage, and use of low-carbon hydrogen, dropped by about one-third from last year.

It makes me believe there is no more budget for putting on an overshoot-and-return charade to justify our reliance on fossil fuels. None of this is surprising or remarkable, though. This is not the downfall of Exxon, as the headline might have you believe, this is still business as usual.