SHELL CALLS POLICE ON LORD SENTAMU

On Friday, April 21, Christian Climate Action held the No Faith In Fossil Fuels Service with charities such as Tearfund, CAFOD, Christian Aid, A Rocha, Operation Noah and Green Christian. From this service we walked via Shell headquarters to Parliament. When we stopped at Shell, Lord John Sentamu tried to deliver a letter. However Shell locked their doors and would not allow him to enter. We were then notified by the police that Shell had contacted them regarding Lord Sentamu trying to enter.

Here is the letter that Lord Sentamu was trying to deliver.

Wael Sawan
Chief Executive Officer, Shell plc
c/o Shell Centre, York Road
London, SE1 7NA

Dear Mr. Sawan,

‘The obvious is that which is never seen
Until someone expresses it simply.’ Khalil Gibran

‘Fossil fuels are a dead end — for our planet, for humanity and for economies.’ António Guterres
The science is clear. Summarising a recent IPCC report, the head of the UN said we are ‘firmly on track toward an unlivable world’”. The International Energy Agency’s 1.5°C report states that from
December 2021 any new fossil fuel extraction project is inconsistent with a 1.5°C pathway.

Church leaders are speaking out. Speaking in support of the climate protest taking place this weekend, Lord Sentamu said: ‘Climate change is the greatest insidious and brutal indiscriminate
force of our time. The people suffering the most have done the least to cause it. That is why continuing to search for new sources of fossil fuels, despite explicit warnings against this from the
International Energy Agency, is such an offence against humanity.’

As representatives from many Christian organisations, we therefore call on Shell to stop all new fossil fuel exploration and extraction.

Your own reports show that you know there is an urgent need to change the world’s energy system.

This clearly ranks of a higher order of importance than whether or not decreasing the sales of your oil and gas products will affect your company’s finances and shareholder value.

It is not just up to governments to act. With its huge resources of finance and expertise Shell does have the ability to play an important role in the energy transition by switching to an energy company rather than an oil company and working with customers to reduce their emissions.

We invite you to meet with representatives of the organisations signing this letter to discuss your responsibilities at this crucial time.

But most importantly of all we call on Shell to stop all new fossil fuel exploration and extraction immediately.

Micah 6:8 from the Bible calls us to ‘Act justly, love mercy and walk humbly with your God.’ We ask you to humbly reflect on the need for your company to now rapidly change course, in order for
there to be justice and mercy, and life at all, for all future generations.

Be assured of our prayers for wisdom, courage and strength as you consider your response. Please look into the eyes of a child that you love, as you do.

We look forward to hearing from you and would be very happy to meet with you to discuss this.

Yours in faith,

Barbara Echlin, Vice Chair, Green Christian
Melanie Nazareth, Christian Climate Action
Nicky Bull, Vice Chair, Operation Noah
Neil Thorns, Director of Advocacy, CAFOD
Nigel Harris, CEO, Tearfund
Osai Ojigho, Director of Policy, Public affairs and Campaigns, Christian Aid
Andy Atkins, CEO, A Rocha U