Energy and petrochemical company Shell has left the Science-Based Targets Initiative. This non-profit organization assists companies worldwide in developing strategies to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 and combat the dangers of global warming. “Science-based targets show businesses how much and how quickly they need to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions to prevent the worst effects of climate change,” the organization states.
However, the climate requirements proposed by the group went too far for the oil company. Two other major oil companies, Norway’s Aker BP and Canada’s Enbridge, have also withdrawn.
Ban on new oil and gas fields
According to a draft document, fossil fuel companies would be prohibited from developing “new oil and gas fields” and would be required to “significantly reduce their oil and gas production”.
Shell, on the other hand, wants to increase natural gas production. The British company still claims to aim for net-zero emissions by 2050, but has scrapped an interim target of a 45 percent reduction by 2035.
‘Realistic societal and economic changes’
Shell recognizes the importance of “a science-based methodology for setting targets for the oil and gas sector” and has stated its intention to continue contributing to this effort. However, according to a spokesperson, the standard must also “reflect realistic societal and economic changes and provide companies with sufficient flexibility to transition to net-zero operations.”
According to Shell, a one-size-fits-all approach, as proposed by SBTI, will not work because different sectors require different scenarios to be climate neutral by 2050.
SBTI, on the other hand, states that it does not issue “recommendations” but bases its findings on scientific facts, including a 2021 study by the International Energy Agency.
New lawsuit
Because Shell wants to extract more gas, Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands) announced a new lawsuit against the multinational this spring. The organization will demand that the energy company stop investing in new oil and gas fields, precisely as the SBTi document argues.
SBTi has temporarily paused its work on the document following the withdrawal of the oil companies, according to the Financial Times newspaper. The initiative has “paused” work on the oil and gas standard, citing “capacity considerations”, but denied this was linked to the oil and gas industry departures.
