Oil and Gas Majors Hit Hard by Green Revolts

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GALWAY, IRELAND--June 7, 2021--Written by Martin Lynch, European News Editor for Industrial Info (Galway, Ireland)--Oil and gas majors Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (The Hague, Netherlands), Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) (Irving, Texas) and Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) (San Ramon, California) suffered a number of major defeats in court and their own boardrooms recently over lowering their emissions and investing more in renewables.

A court in The Hague, Netherlands, has ordered Shell to cut its global carbon emissions by 45% by the end of 2030 compared with 2019 levels. The landmark judgement, in a case brought by Friends of the Earth and more than 17,000 co-plaintiffs, demanded that the oil giant's plans should be brought into line with the Paris Climate agreement. Judge Larisa Alwin ruled the company must "at once" reduce its CO2 output. Speaking about its existing emissions plan, she said: "It is not concrete, has many caveats and is based on monitoring social developments rather than the company's own responsibility for achieving a CO2 reduction."

Earlier this year, Industrial Info reported on the announcement of Shell's ambitious plan to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050. The goals announced then were to reduce its net carbon intensity by 6-8% by 2023, 20% by 2030, 45% by 2035 and 100% by 2050. The court's ruling demands that the 2030 target be more than doubled to 45%. For additional information, see February 22, 2021, article - Shell Commits to Net-Zero Business by 2050.

Shell called the court's decision "disappointing" and stated: "Urgent action is needed on climate change, which is why we have accelerated our efforts to become a net-zero emissions energy company by 2050, in step with society, with short-term targets to track our progress. We are investing billions of dollars in low-carbon energy, including electric vehicle charging, hydrogen, renewables and biofuels. We want to grow demand for these products and scale up our new energy businesses even more quickly. We will continue to focus on these efforts and fully expect to appeal today's disappointing court decision."

Roger Cox, lawyer for Friends of the Earth Netherlands, also known as Milieudefensie, commented: "This is a turning point in history. This case is unique because it is the first time a judge has ordered a large polluting corporation to comply with the Paris climate agreement. This ruling may also have major consequences for other big polluters."

Green rebellions were also underway in the boardrooms of Exxon and Chevron. A coup launched by dissident hedge fund activists at Engine No. 1 was successful in replacing two Exxon board members with its own candidates, who will promote an agenda of faster transition to cleaner energy and lowering emissions. It is understood that the Engine No. 1 action was backed by leading Exxon shareholders, BlackRock, the world's biggest asset manager, and Legal & General, one of Exxon's top 20 investors.

At Chevron, shareholders rebelled against the company's board by voting 61% in favour of an activist proposal from Dutch campaign group Follow This, which will force the company to cut its carbon emissions. Follow This has also been successful in forcing through votes to cut emissions at both ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) (Houston) and Phillips 66 (NYSE:PSX) (Houston, Texas) in the past month.

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