Shell hypocrisy on climate issues
“I didn’t know Shell was sponsoring this conference when I agreed to do it, but I’m glad for the chance to say in public that Shell is among the most irresponsible companies on earth. When they write the history of our time, the fact that Shell executives watched the Arctic melt and then led the rush to go drill for oil in that thawing north will provide the iconic example of the shortsighted greed that marks the richest people on our planet.”
FROM A REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR
A Bloomberg Businessweek article by Ben Elgin has identified the blatant and self-serving hypocrisy by Royal Dutch Shell regarding climate change. Shell says one thing for public and media consumption, while quietly doing the exact opposite.
Extracts
Shell, on paper, may be one of the most progressive oil giants on climate issues. Last month, it joined a group of businesses calling on European leaders to target a 40-percent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. And in April, Shell signed the Trillion Tonne Communique, which urges governments worldwide to significantly cut carbon emissions in order to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.
“Climate change is real and it’s a threat that we want to act on,” Shell Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden told the Washington Post in September. “We’re not aligning with the skeptics.”
Less publicly, however, Shell is a member of numerous industry groups around the world that vigorously fight policies seeking even modest cuts in carbon emissions, as Bloomberg Businessweek reported in September.
FULL ARTICLE: Shell Pressured to Sever Ties with ALEX
The same blatant hypocrisy by Shell is pointed out in a related article about climate activist Bill McKibben: Veteran campaigner slams Shell’s “Jekyll and Hyde” climate stance“
Another article – “Shell sponsors major climate change conference gets ripped apart anyway” – featured this comment from Mr McKibben:
I didn’t know Shell was sponsoring this conference when I agreed to do it, but I’m glad for the chance to say in public that Shell is among the most irresponsible companies on earth. When they write the history of our time, the fact that Shell executives watched the Arctic melt and then led the rush to go drill for oil in that thawing north will provide the iconic example of the shortsighted greed that marks the richest people on our planet.
The TRUTH will set you FREE.
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