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

A senior safety advisor has quit working with Shell after 11 years, accusing the fossil gas producer in a bombshell public video of causing “excessive harms” to the setting.

Caroline Dennett claimed Shell had a “disregard for local weather change dangers” and urged others within the oil and gasoline industry to “walk away whereas there’s nonetheless time”.

The chief, who works for the unbiased agency Clout, ended her working relationship with Shell in an open letter to its executives and 1,400 staff. In an accompanying video, posted on LinkedIn, she said she had give up because of Shell’s “double-talk on local weather”.

Dennett accused the oil and gas firm of “working beyond the design limits of our planetary programs” and “not placing environmental safety before manufacturing”.

She mentioned: “Shell’s acknowledged safety ambition is to ‘do no hurt’ – ‘Objective Zero’, they name it – and it sounds honourable but they are utterly failing on it.

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

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

Shell was a “major client” of Dennett’s enterprise, which specialises in evaluating safety procedures in high-risk industries including oil and fuel production. She started working with Shell within the aftermath of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, which rocked the trade.

“I can not work for a corporation that ignores all of the alarms and dismisses the dangers of climate change and ecological collapse,” she said. “Because, contrary to Shell’s public expressions round net zero, they are not winding down on oil and gasoline, however planning to discover and extract way more.”

Dennett – a prison 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 company’s employees to leave. The movement’s TruthTeller whistleblowing mission encourages oil and gas employees to walk away from the industry.

The advisor, who runs internal security surveys and is based in Weymouth, Dorset, acknowledged she was “privileged” to be able to walk away and “many people working in fossil fuel companies simply aren’t so lucky”.

She urged Shell’s executives to “look in the mirror and ask themselves if they actually consider their vision for more oil and fuel extraction secures a protected future for humanity”.

In late 2020, a number of Shell executives in its clear energy sector left amid reports they have been pissed off at 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 scale back emissions might be discussed at the assembly where the Dutch activist group Observe This may push for the corporate’s insurance policies to be more in line with the Paris climate accord. Shell’s board has instructed investors to reject the group’s resolution that asks it to set more stringent local weather goals.

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

The Shell chief executive, Ben van Beurden, may experience an investor rebel against his £13.5m pay packet on the AGM after the investment adviser Pirc urged a vote against it.

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A Shell spokesperson stated: “Be in little question, we're determined to deliver on our international strategy to be a internet zero firm by 2050 and 1000's of our persons are working laborious to attain this. We've got set targets for the quick, medium and long run, and have each intention of hitting them.

“We’re already investing billions of dollars in low-carbon power, although the world will still need oil and gas for decades to return in sectors that may’t be simply decarbonised.”

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

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

Harbour Power’s chief government, Linda Prepare dinner, told the Monetary Occasions: “A better tax burden will make it more challenging for brand new oil and fuel initiatives to meet funding hurdle rates, which means fewer initiatives will be sanctioned.

“That is at a time when trade is being encouraged to increase home UK oil and gas manufacturing and assist an orderly power transition.”

Harbour has advised the government it plans to speculate $6bn within the North Sea over three years as industry makes its case in opposition to the tax. The Guardian revealed this month that Cook had acquired a £4.6m “golden whats up” from the agency.