Shell advisor quits, accusing agency of ‘excessive harms’ to atmosphere | Shell

A senior security guide has quit working with Shell after 11 years, accusing the fossil fuel producer in a bombshell public video of causing “excessive harms” to the atmosphere.

Caroline Dennett claimed Shell had a “disregard for climate change dangers” and urged others in the oil and fuel trade to “stroll away whereas there’s nonetheless time”.

The chief, who works for the independent company Clout, ended her working relationship with Shell in an open letter to its executives and 1,400 employees. In an accompanying video, posted on LinkedIn, she said she had stop because of Shell’s “double-talk on climate”.

Dennett accused the oil and gasoline firm of “working past the design limits of our planetary programs” and “not placing environmental safety earlier than manufacturing”.

She mentioned: “Shell’s stated security ambition is to ‘do no hurt’ – ‘Aim Zero’, they call it – and it sounds honourable but they're completely failing on it.

“They know that continued oil and gas extraction causes excessive harms, to our local weather, to our surroundings and to folks. And no matter they say, Shell is solely not winding down on fossil fuels.”

Dennett informed the Guardian she “could not marry these conflicts with my conscience”, including: “I could not carry that any longer, and I’m ready to deal with the consequences.”

Shell was a “main client” of Dennett’s business, which specialises in evaluating security procedures in high-risk industries together with oil and gasoline production. She started working with Shell within the aftermath of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, which rocked the trade.

“I can no longer work for a corporation that ignores all of the alarms and dismisses the risks of local weather change and ecological collapse,” she stated. “Because, contrary to Shell’s public expressions around web zero, they don't seem to be winding down on oil and gasoline, but planning to explore and extract far more.”

Dennett – a prison justice graduate who has spent her profession in research and consultancy – was impressed to stop working with Shell after watching information footage of Extinction Rise up local weather protesters urging the corporate’s employees to depart. The motion’s TruthTeller whistleblowing mission encourages oil and gasoline staff to walk away from the industry.

The marketing consultant, who runs internal safety surveys and is based in Weymouth, Dorset, acknowledged she was “privileged” to have the ability to walk away and “many people working in fossil gas corporations simply aren’t so fortunate”.

She urged Shell’s executives to “look within the mirror and ask themselves if they really imagine their vision for more oil and gasoline extraction secures a protected future for humanity”.

In late 2020, several Shell executives in its clear energy sector left amid reports they were annoyed on the pace of Shell’s shift in direction of greener fuels.

Her announcement comes on the eve of Shell’s AGM in London on Tuesday. Its plans to scale back emissions might be discussed at the meeting where the Dutch activist group Observe This will push for the company’s policies to be extra per the Paris local weather accord. Shell’s board has advised investors to reject the group’s resolution that asks it to set extra stringent local weather targets.

The Shell investor Royal London has mentioned it intends to abstain on a vote on the firm’s local weather transition proposals.

The Shell chief executive, Ben van Beurden, may experience an investor rebel against his £13.5m pay packet at the AGM after the investment adviser Pirc urged a vote towards it.

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A Shell spokesperson said: “Be in little doubt, we're determined to ship on our international strategy to be a internet zero company by 2050 and 1000's of our persons are working arduous to attain this. We've set targets for the quick, medium and long term, and have each intention of hitting them.

“We’re already investing billions of dollars in low-carbon energy, though the world will nonetheless need oil and gasoline for many years to return in sectors that may’t be simply decarbonised.”

Shell additionally faces the prospect of a potential windfall tax to fund cuts to family payments after the energy business reported bumper income fuelled by the increase in market prices, prompting opposition parties to name on the government to bring in a one-off levy.

On Monday, the most important oil and gasoline producer in the North Sea spoke out towards a one-off levy, arguing it might result in the industry approving fewer tasks.

Harbour Energy’s chief government, Linda Prepare dinner, advised the Monetary Times: “A higher tax burden will make it more difficult for new oil and fuel projects to fulfill funding hurdle rates, which means fewer tasks can be sanctioned.

“That is at a time when industry is being encouraged to extend domestic UK oil and fuel production and support an orderly vitality transition.”

Harbour has informed the federal government it plans to invest $6bn within the North Sea over three years as trade makes its case against the tax. The Guardian revealed this month that Cook had obtained a £4.6m “golden hi there” from the agency.