The world’s most powerful oil executives have gathered in the Vatican for a meeting with Pope Francis I to discuss the industry’s sins against the environment.

The chief executives of BP, Exxon Mobil, Norway’s state oil company and Italy’s Eni are expected to meet senior Vatican officials, including the pontiff, for closed door discussion of their role in helping to tackle climate change.

BP’s Bob Dudley, Exxon Mobil’s Darren Wood and Eni boss Claudio Descalzi will join Larry Fink, the chief executive of investment giant BlackRock, at the event, which is being organised by Notre Dame University.

The talks are likely to pile pressure on Big Oil to clean up its energy activities amid rising calls from environmental shareholders to reduce their activities in carbon-heavy fossil fuels.

Ahead of the talks Neil Thorns, of Catholic aid agency CAFOD, said: “If energy companies are serious about caring for our common home, they need to take the Pope’s advice and hurry up with shifting their priorities – and therefore their money – from fossil fuels to renewables.”