Shell advisor quits, accusing firm of ‘extreme harms’ to atmosphere | Shell

A senior security advisor has quit working with Shell after 11 years, accusing the fossil fuel producer in a bombshell public video of inflicting “extreme harms” to the setting.

Caroline Dennett claimed Shell had a “disregard for local weather change risks” and urged others in the oil and fuel industry to “stroll away while there’s still time”.

The executive, 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 mentioned she had stop due to Shell’s “double-talk on local weather”.

Dennett accused the oil and gas agency of “operating beyond the design limits of our planetary systems” and “not placing environmental safety before production”.

She said: “Shell’s said security ambition is to ‘do no harm’ – ‘Aim Zero’, they name it – and it sounds honourable but they are completely failing on it.

“They know that continued oil and fuel extraction causes extreme harms, to our climate, to our surroundings and to people. And no matter they say, Shell is simply not winding down on fossil fuels.”

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

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

“I can not work for an organization that ignores all of the alarms and dismisses the dangers of local weather change and ecological collapse,” she said. “As a result of, opposite to Shell’s public expressions round web zero, they don't seem to be winding down on oil and gas, but planning to explore and extract rather more.”

Dennett – a legal justice graduate who has spent her career in research and consultancy – was inspired to stop working with Shell after watching news footage of Extinction Insurrection climate protesters urging the corporate’s employees to leave. The movement’s TruthTeller whistleblowing challenge encourages oil and gasoline staff to stroll away from the industry.

The consultant, who runs internal safety surveys and is predicated in Weymouth, Dorset, acknowledged she was “privileged” to be able to walk away and “many individuals working in fossil fuel companies just aren’t so fortunate”.

She urged Shell’s executives to “look in the mirror and ask themselves in the event that they actually consider their imaginative and prescient 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 experiences they have been annoyed at the tempo of Shell’s shift towards greener fuels.

Her announcement comes on the eve of Shell’s AGM in London on Tuesday. Its plans to scale back emissions can be discussed on the assembly where the Dutch activist group Follow This will push for the corporate’s insurance policies to be more per the Paris local weather accord. Shell’s board has advised investors to reject the group’s resolution that asks it to set more stringent climate objectives.

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

The Shell chief government, Ben van Beurden, could experience an investor rebel towards his £13.5m pay packet on the AGM after the investment adviser Pirc urged a vote in opposition to it.

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A Shell spokesperson said: “Be in little question, we are decided to deliver on our international technique to be a internet zero company by 2050 and thousands of our individuals are working arduous to achieve this. We've set targets for the brief, medium and long run, and have every intention of hitting them.

“We’re already investing billions of dollars in low-carbon vitality, though the world will still need oil and gasoline for decades to come back in sectors that can’t be easily decarbonised.”

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

On Monday, the biggest oil and gas producer in the North Sea spoke out towards a one-off levy, arguing it will lead to the business approving fewer tasks.

Harbour Power’s chief executive, Linda Prepare dinner, informed the Financial Occasions: “A better tax burden will make it more difficult for brand spanking new oil and gasoline initiatives to satisfy investment hurdle charges, meaning fewer tasks will probably be sanctioned.

“This is at a time when industry is being inspired to extend domestic UK oil and gas production and assist an orderly power transition.”

Harbour has instructed the government it plans to take a position $6bn within the North Sea over three years as industry makes its case against the tax. The Guardian revealed this month that Cook had acquired a £4.6m “golden hi there” from the firm.