The talk about climate change has prompted individuals and businesses alike to become sustainable. Many businesses have made pledges to make the world a better place to live in with their net-zero emissions promises. One of those companies is Shell. Or so we think. A Shell safety consultant has revealed that the oil multinational corporation isn’t living up to its promise.
Shell Consultant Resignation
Caroline Dennett (ex-Shell safety consultant) tendered her resignation on May 23, 2022, after she claimed that Shell wasn’t doing their part to fulfill its net-zero emissions promise. She has been with the company for 11 years. The consultant left because of Shell’s interest in fossil fuel extraction expansion.
Dennett made her resignation publicly known with a LinkedIn post, stating that she had ended her 11-year term with the company.
In the video she posted along with the post, she also encouraged others to do the same that may think the company they’re working for might no longer uphold their pledge to the environment.
Politico
POLITICO reported that she sent Shell employees an email about how the company isn’t delivering on their promises on what they wanted for the planet. They saw the email she sent out, and she mentioned that the company was “failing” on a planetary scale. She added that Shell isn’t putting environmental safety first and that the company wasn’t finding solutions to prevent possible risks of their actions to the environment.
It was also found that Shell still had plans regarding fossil fuels until 2025 and is planning to use a gas field in the UK despite the environmental risks that come with it.
Vox
Vox also had the chance to interview Dennett. The media company asked her why she resigned. She stated that she doesn’t want to work for a company that’s ignoring the warning signs. As the then-safety consultant for the company, she had hopes for the company before that they could transition to renewable energy. However, knowing that Shell would continue with the extraction, it was the last straw for Denett. She also emphasized the warnings given by the United Nations, COP 26, and International Energy Agency.
Added to that, she said that the idea of net-zero emissions isn’t discussed thoroughly in company culture. And it appears that no one isn’t thinking about the effects of the company’s actions on the environment.
Even if she’s no longer working for Shell, she still hopes that the company will heed the warnings and stick to renewable energy moving forward.
Shell’s Net-Zero Emissions Promise
On Shell’s website, the company listed its targets, stating that they aim to be a “net-zero emissions” energy company by 2050. They noticed in 2018 that they had reached their peak emissions and wanted to change it.
The company states they have been doing these steps to reduce their carbon emissions. However, they did not specify which actions they had been doing to reach their targets.
Other Companies Are Also Not Delivering on their Net-Zero Pledge
Shell isn’t the only company that has pledged to reduce its emissions by a certain date with specific actions and targets to reach. The NewClimate Institute found that other companies have not done their part to reduce emissions. Based on their report, most companies aren’t transparent about how they’re trying to reach their targets. Here are their findings.
Maersk was one of the most transparent companies and was following through with its net-zero emissions pledge. They earned the Reasonable Integrity score from the non-profit. Apple, Sony, and Vodafone earned the Moderate Integrity scores from the non-profit because while they were transparent about their practices, for integrity, they scored half only.
Meanwhile, here were the companies that got a low and very low integrity score:
- Amazon
- Deutsche Telekom
- Enel
- GlaxoSmithKline
- Google
- Hitachi
- Ikea
- Volkswagen
- Walmart
- Vale
- Accenture
- BMW Group
- Carrefour
- CVS Health
- Deutsche Post DHL
- E.ON SE
- JBS
- Nestle
- Novartis
- Saint-Gobain
- Unilever
