Dear John,
Despite the coronavirus pandemic and current economic crisis, investors are still acutely focused on the seismic and systemic threats that the climate crisis poses now and in the future. Just yesterday, investors participating in the largest global engagement initiative announced a breakthrough commitment with one of the biggest oil and gas companies in the world.
Shell committed to become a net zero emissions energy company by 2050 or sooner. This is an incredibly positive outcome of engagements led by Climate Action 100+ investors including the Church of England Pension Board and Robeco, with the support of other investors.
In short, Shell plans to:
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Achieve net-zero on all emissions from the manufacture of all Shell products by 2050 or sooner.
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Accelerate ambition to be in step with society’s aim to limit average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, which is in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement. This means reducing the net carbon footprint of the energy products Shell sells to its customers by 65% by 2050 and 30% by 2035.
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Pivot toward serving businesses and sectors that also achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
As one of the world’s largest energy companies, Shell’s commitment to realizing net-zero emissions is of significance for the broader energy sector, particularly at a time when many US oil and gas companies are using the COVID-19 crisis as an opportunity to push for environmental rollbacks. Plus, with stock prices in the sector near record lows, investors are quickly running out of patience with any company that continues to pursue business as usual. |
Much more work remains to ensure that companies like Shell follow through on the letter and spirit of these commitments. Nonetheless, Shell's increased ambition, coupled with recent commitments from other oil companies including BP, Equinor, Repsol and Eni, will place intense pressure on US competitors including ExxonMobil and Chevron to follow suit.
Climate Action 100+ is an investor-led initiative to ensure that the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change. More than 450 investors, with $40 trillion in assets, participate in Climate Action 100+ around the globe. Ceres, a founding partner of the initiative, coordinates investor engagements in North America.
Read more about this latest development at ClimateAction100.org. |
Stay safe and healthy,
 |
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Andrew Logan
Senior Director, Oil and Gas
Ceres | |
