Shell Investors Call on Others to Force Company Into More Climate Action

Several large institutional shareholders in Shell have called on the rest of the company’s shareholders to support a resolution demanding greater climate action, the Financial Times has reported.

The resolution authors include Dutch activist investor group Follow This, Amundi, and Axa Investment Managers, along with 25 others, the report said. Collectively, the 27 own 2.5% in the supermajor.

Shell has already recommended to its shareholders to vote against the resolution on the basis that its current climate-related targets were sufficient and already in line with Paris Agreement goals but the resolution’s authors claim that the company needs to do better to meet Paris Agreement targets, which were “essential to preserve the health of the global economy”.

“This year’s vote is especially important as Shell has recently backtracked on its climate targets, doubling down on its determination to continue oil and gas extraction,” the resolution’s authors, whose pushback against Shell was coordinated by Follow This, wrote.

“Now is the time to send a strong signal to the industry that investors are determined to reach Paris.”

Follow This has been trying to get its Big Oil targets to adopt more ambitious emission-cutting targets in line with its priorities but instead, the supermajors have been adjusting their climate action targets to a reality where oil and gas are still very much in demand and their alternatives are not living up to the financial promise.

Shell has a target of cutting its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 50% by 2030 from 2016 levels. Yet earlier this year it revised its overall Energy Transition Strategy, saying that it would now aim for a 15-20% reduction in its net carbon intensity target by 2030, compared to 2016, against a previous target of a 20% cut.

The eased emissions target is the result of Shell prioritizing value over volume in power, with a focus on select markets and segments and selling more power to commercial customers, and less to retail customers.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

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