by Shadia Nasralla and Ron Bousso
LONDON (Reuters) – Shell shareholders voted in favor of the oil group’s climate strategy on Tuesday at an annual general meeting disrupted by a protest.
Shell’s plan follows a Dutch court ruling in May 2021, ordering the company to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions in absolute terms by 45% by 2030 across the life cycle of its hydrocarbons.
The group aims to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. It nevertheless appealed the Dutch decision, saying it cannot be held responsible for the emissions produced by its customers when they use its products.
Shell’s climate resolution won around 80% of the vote, up from 89% last year, while that of activist group Follow This received 20%, down from 30% last year, preliminary results show. .
For its critics, such as Follow This, Shell’s spending doesn’t reflect its goals, and those goals don’t measure up.
The criticisms relate in particular to the way of measuring polluting emissions. Shell formulates most of its targets in terms of intensity rather than absolute values. The group’s total emissions could increase while losing intensity, for example by increasing its production of renewable energy.
Shell’s spending plans remain focused on oil and gas. It plans to increase the share of spending on low-carbon energy to around 25% by 2025, from around 15% now.
Several climate protesters blocked the meeting with slogans and banners, delaying the general assembly by about three hours.
“We’re here to embarrass them and hold them to account as much as we can. They know what’s going on. We’re not here to educate them,” said Money Rebellion member Aidan Knox. , which is linked to the environmental group Extinction Rebellion.
(Report Shadia Nasralla and Ron Bousso, French version Lou Phily and Valentine Baldassari, edited by Kate Entringer and Sophie Louet)