Shell has frustrated climate approach for decades despite internal knowledge

Posted 4 years ago in topic Energy

Although Shell has known about the dangers of climate change for more than thirty years, the company remains committed to fossil energy. This frustrates Shell with a substantial approach to climate problems, according to a reconstruction by De Correspondent.

The website published the reconstruction on Tuesday based on confidential internal documents and an investigation into the Shell lobby. The reconstruction appears simultaneously in The Guardian and the Danish daily Information.

Internal documents show that Shell already knew in 1986 that oil and gas can disrupt the climate. For example, the company warned that "the relatively rapid and dramatic changes in the Earth's climate are affecting people's living environment, their future standard of living and food supplies, with potentially widespread damage and economic and political consequences."

"The environment may be affected in such a way that some parts of the earth become uninhabitable," Shell wrote in the internal study. Still, according to De Correspondent, the company continued to invest in fossil energy. In addition, Shell consistently argues against a more ambitious climate policy, as this would harm business interests.

Inconvenient Truth

Shell itself already made the film Climate of Concern in 1991, which warned about the life-threatening consequences of global warming.

In terms of tone, according to the article, the film is comparable to An Inconvenient Truth, the Oscar-winning climate documentary made fifteen years later by former presidential candidate Al Gore. Climate of Concern, which said "taking action now is the only safe insurance we have," was shown in schools and universities around the world at the time.

In a 1996 briefing to management, climate change was described as "the most serious and complex environmental issue we as humanity have ever faced."

Sowing doubt

Despite this knowledge, Shell participated in a campaign in the 1990s that deliberately cast doubt on climate science, says De Correspondent. The aim of this campaign was to prevent "draconian" intervention by the government. US Congressmen last year called for a criminal investigation into Shell's contributions to this lobbying campaign.

Shell has long stated that it is developing 'green initiatives', but the budget that the company spends on developing climate-friendly technologies and energy sources has been the same for twenty years. Since 1998, this has accounted for 1 percent of the total investments, according to the site based on its own calculations.

At the same time, Shell has invested tens of billions in recent decades in extracting oil and gas in places that were previously inaccessible, such as the Arctic and deep sea areas.

Dozens of employees

For the article in De Correspondent, climate journalist Jelmer Mommers researched Shell and its environmental policy for over a year. He spoke to dozens of Shell employees about how they see the future of the company.

In a response, Shell announced that their position on climate change is known. "We recognize the climate challenge and the role energy plays in ensuring a good quality of life."

"Shell will continue to call for effective policies to lower corporate and consumer carbon emissions, and options such as government-imposed carbon tariffs and emissions trading systems," the oil company said.

Source: Nu.nl