Shell has presented its Energy Transition Strategy publication to shareholders for advisory vote at the company’s AGM on 18 May.
The publication sets out the company’s target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, in step with society’s progress towards the goal of the Paris Agreement on climate change.
It also describes Shell’s short- and medium-term climate targets, customer-focused decarbonisation strategy, capital allocation and approach to climate-related policy and advocacy.
“As we transform our business, it is more important than ever for shareholders to understand and support our approach,” said Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden, in the introduction to the publication.
“We are asking our shareholders to vote for an energy transition strategy that is designed to bring our energy products, our services, and our investments in line with the goal of the Paris Agreement and the global drive to combat climate change.”
A key pillar of the strategy is establishing Shell as a low carbon business.
By 2030 Shell aims to double the electricity it sells, delivering the equivalent of more than 50 million households with renewable electricity.
Van Beurden stated: We will increasingly offer low-carbon products and solutions, such as biofuels, charging for electric vehicles, hydrogen and renewable power, as well as carbon capture and storage and nature-based offsets.
“In this way, we expect to build low-carbon businesses of significant scale over the coming decade. In addition, we will drive down emissions from our own operations as we continue to provide the oil and gas products our customers need today, while at the same time helping them move to a low- and zero-carbon future.”
The vote is purely advisory and will not be binding.
Shell will publish an update to its Energy Transition Strategy publication every three years until 2050. Every year, starting in 2022, it will also seek an advisory vote on its progress towards its plans and targets.
In the Netherlands Shell has 160MW of renewable generation capacity in operation and 1.6GW in development across solar and wind.
In Germany Shell expects its 10MW green hydrogen electrolyser (RefHyne) to start production in the summer of 2021.
In Ireland the company is a 51% shareholder in the 300MW Emerald floating wind farm early-stage development.