Shell consultant quits, accusing firm of ‘excessive harms’ to atmosphere | Shell

A senior security guide has give up working with Shell after 11 years, accusing the fossil gasoline producer in a bombshell public video of inflicting “extreme harms” to the environment.

Caroline Dennett claimed Shell had a “disregard for climate change dangers” and urged others within the oil and gas business to “stroll away whereas there’s still time”.

The executive, who works for the independent agency 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 stated she had stop because of Shell’s “double-talk on climate”.

Dennett accused the oil and gas agency of “operating beyond the design limits of our planetary programs” and “not putting environmental safety before manufacturing”.

She mentioned: “Shell’s stated security ambition is to ‘do no harm’ – ‘Goal 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 climate, to our surroundings and to individuals. And no matter they say, Shell is solely not winding down on fossil fuels.”

Dennett told the Guardian she “couldn't marry these conflicts with my conscience”, adding: “I could not carry that any longer, and I’m able to cope with the results.”

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

“I can now not work for an organization that ignores all of the alarms and dismisses the risks of local weather change and ecological collapse,” she mentioned. “Because, opposite to Shell’s public expressions round web zero, they don't seem to be winding down on oil and gasoline, however planning to discover and extract much more.”

Dennett – a felony justice graduate who has spent her profession in analysis and consultancy – was impressed to cease working with Shell after watching news footage of Extinction Rebel climate protesters urging the corporate’s staff to depart. The movement’s TruthTeller whistleblowing venture encourages oil and fuel workers to stroll away from the business.

The guide, who runs inner security surveys and is predicated in Weymouth, Dorset, acknowledged she was “privileged” to have the ability to walk away and “many individuals working in fossil gas corporations just aren’t so lucky”.

She urged Shell’s executives to “look within the mirror and ask themselves in the event that they really imagine their vision for extra oil and gasoline extraction secures a secure future for humanity”.

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

Her announcement comes on the eve of Shell’s AGM in London on Tuesday. Its plans to reduce emissions will likely be mentioned on the assembly the place the Dutch activist group Follow It will push for the company’s policies to be more in step with the Paris local weather accord. Shell’s board has advised buyers to reject the group’s resolution that asks it to set extra stringent climate goals.

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

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

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A Shell spokesperson said: “Be in no doubt, we are determined to ship on our world technique to be a net zero company by 2050 and thousands of our persons are working exhausting to realize this. We've set targets for the short, medium and long run, and have every intention of hitting them.

“We’re already investing billions of dollars in low-carbon power, although the world will nonetheless want oil and gas for many years to come in sectors that can’t be easily decarbonised.”

Shell also faces the prospect of a possible windfall tax to fund cuts to household bills after the power industry reported bumper earnings fuelled by the increase in market prices, prompting opposition events to call on the federal government to usher in a one-off levy.

On Monday, the most important oil and gasoline producer within the North Sea spoke out in opposition to a one-off levy, arguing it will result in the trade approving fewer initiatives.

Harbour Vitality’s chief government, Linda Cook, told the Financial Instances: “A higher tax burden will make it more challenging for brand new oil and gasoline projects to satisfy funding hurdle charges, which means fewer initiatives will likely be sanctioned.

“This is at a time when trade is being inspired to extend home UK oil and gasoline manufacturing and help an orderly energy transition.”

Harbour has instructed the federal government it plans to invest $6bn within the North Sea over three years as business makes its case in opposition to the tax. The Guardian revealed this month that Prepare dinner had acquired a £4.6m “golden good day” from the firm.