Pivot to save planet costing the earth
BUSINESS COMMENTARY: Alistair Osborne
The Times
Welcome to “the future of energy”: a $21.7 billion full-year loss, write-offs just about everywhere and a homily from the boss, beginning: “2020 was an extraordinary year.”
No one needs Royal Dutch Shell’s Ben van Beurden to tell them that. And the worry for shareholders is that he’s not even got round to his big “strategy day” yet. That’s coming next Thursday, with details of the oil giant’s rollercoaster route to net zero. He’s yet to spell out Shell’s future of wind power, carbon capture and electric car-charging. But whatever it is, it’s already costing the earth.
In May, investors discovered that Shell was lopping two thirds off the annual £11.6 billion dividend: the first cut since the Second World War. It was the cue…
