Oil sector
Shell is scrapping its emissions targets for 2035 and weakening them for 2030, the British company writes in a strategy update. While Shell wanted to accelerate the transition to renewable energy under previous CEO Ben van Beurden, the new CEO, Wael Sawan, is back on the brakes.
British oil and gas company Shell has weakened its interim target to reduce CO₂ emissions. While the company was still aiming for a 20 percent decline by 2030 three years ago, it is now aiming for a decline of between 15 and 20 percent compared to 2016, according to a recently published update to its strategy.
The target of reducing emissions by 45 percent by 2035 will be scrapped altogether. That’s because the prospects for the global energy transition remain uncertain, CEO Wael Sawan told Reuters.
It is not an absolute decrease, but the amount of CO₂ emitted per unit sold of, for example, petrol or gas. This has been criticized by climate activists, because such a target says nothing about the actual amount of greenhouse gases that enter the atmosphere. Shell is adjusting the CO₂ target because the company has largely withdrawn from the European electricity market.
Previously, the company planned to sell green energy to private individuals in the UK, Germany and the Netherlands, but after Sawan took office at the beginning of last year, Shell did not think it would be able to achieve strong results there. Sawan made it clear last year that he would change course compared to his predecessor, Ben van Beurden, who wanted to focus more on renewable energy sources.
Scope 3
The emissions from the fuel that Shell sells account for the vast majority of all emissions for which the British company is responsible (so-called scope 3 emissions). The company expects to have halved the CO2 emissions caused by its own activities by 2030 compared to 2016. And the ultimate goal of climate neutrality by 2050 (which is in line with the Paris agreement) will be maintained.
