Investors Reject Emissions Targets; Shell AGM Disrupted

Shell plc

The Shell shareholder meeting in London was interrupted by climate protests. The meeting couldn't start for over an hour. Investors refused new targets to reduce carbon emissions.

A vote by big pension funds and investors was held to make the FTSE 100 oil company reduce their carbon emissions by 2030. There were also many protesters calling for a stop to fossil fuel production.

People often stage climate protests at annual meetings, urging banks like HSBC and Barclays to stop lending money to fossil fuel projects. Some also target oil companies like BP and Shell.

Wael Sawan and Andrew Mackenzie held a meeting. Wael is Shell's CEO. Andrew used to be the CEO of a mining company called BHP. They both defended Shell. People have accused Shell of not switching to renewable energy fast enough.

In 2022, the company put $4.3bn into green energy like biofuels, hydrogen, electric car charging, and renewable power. But, the total spending was $25bn, with most of it going to oil and gas. Sawan admitted this.

The company told shareholders to vote against the climate resolution. A campaign group called Follow This organized it. Follow This has gained more support from big investors lately. But they still haven't gotten a majority.

According to Shell, the shareholders have rejected the resolution with a majority of 79.8% against and only 20.2% supporting it. The same resolution had only 20% support in 2022.

Follow This founder Mark van Baal said if shareholders vote for company management, they let Shell cause climate breakdown and risk its future.

Sawan, who is Lebanese-Canadian, replied to Follow This. They used a saying to say that asking Shell to stop producing oil and gas right now would be too quick. They think other companies will take over and fill the gap.

Sawan mentioned a Lebanese proverb about building a wine cellar with only one grape. He thinks it applies to Follow This. They have one idea: target companies like Shell to swiftly replace all oil and gas.

Results from voting to be published Tuesday afternoon.

The board of Shell was expecting trouble at their meeting in London. They had been warned about possible threats. The meeting took place at the ExCeL conference centre.

The meeting began with chaos. A protester stood up and shouted. He asked if they liked David Attenborough. He mentioned that Attenborough said it's crazy to invest in fossil fuels.

Mackenzie told him to sit down, wanted to hear from others. Crowd sang "Go to hell, Shell". They chanted "shut down Shell" and "we hate Jackdaw". Mackenzie heard them loud and clear.

The meeting took 45 minutes to start because of protests. The protests went on for over an hour. Security protected the board from the protesters. The security had to remove some protesters and there were scuffles.

Mackenzie mentioned that they wanted the discussion, but security took many people away.

The spokesperson from Shell said they respect people's right to speak their mind. They also welcome useful conversations about their plans and moving away from fossil fuels. However, the protestors were not interested in this kind of discussion.

"We think society must act on climate change."

Shell's annual meeting was disrupted when protesters began shouting: "We will stop you." As a result, three individuals were detained by authorities. This occurred last year.

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