Shell Funded Lobbying For Trump’s Pro-Fossil Fuel Financing Looking To Block Banks’ Climate Action

green queen: By Sally Ho Published on Mar 4, 2021 Last updated Mar 3, 2021

Anglo-Dutch global oil and gas giant Shell funded an industry group lobbying to block efforts by U.S. banks to tackle climate change, an investigation has found. Even as the corporation made new sustainability pledges and made net-zero its goal publicly, documents reviewed by nonprofit journalism platform SourceMaterial and HuffPost showed that Shell backed the lobbyists in favour of the controversial federal rule on fossil fuel financing that the Trump administration implemented in its final days. read more

How the Oil Lobby Learned to Love Carbon Taxes

The American Petroleum Institute may come out in favor of a carbon price, a sign of Washington’s dramatic move toward climate-friendly policy.

By Jennifer A Dlouhy and Leslie Kaufman: 4 March 2021, 07:00 GMT

Few saw the surprise disclosure earlier this week that the American Petroleum Institute is considering endorsing a price on carbon dioxide emissions and thought the fierce fossil fuel lobby was suddenly becoming climate-friendly. Rather, seasoned industry-watchers say it’s the clearest sign yet that fossil fuel companies see Washington’s shift on climate policy as a real and significant threat. read more

BUSINESS: 25/02/2021 10:45 GMT

Despite Its Pledges, Shell Funded Anti-Climate Lobbying Last Year

The oil giant belonged to one group that pushed for a rule designed to preempt banks’ policies against lending for Arctic drilling and coal mining.

• By Luke Barratt
• Alexander C. Kaufman, HuffPost US

Royal Dutch Shell vowed last September to reach net-zero carbon pollution in its business by 2050. The goal was vague but notable, and seemed to become more realistic when the corporation announced earlier this month that its crude oil production had peaked in 2019 and would likely never increase again. read more

Show us the plan: Investors push companies to come clean on climate

By Simon Jessop, Matthew Green, Ross Kerber: FEBRUARY 24, 2021

FILE PHOTO: Swedish climate change activist Greta Thunberg takes part in a climate strike protest during the 50th World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, January 24, 2020. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse/File Photo

LONDON/BOSTON (Reuters) – In the past, shareholder votes on the environment were rare and easily brushed aside. Things could look different in the annual meeting season starting next month, when companies are set to face the most investor resolutions tied to climate change in years. read more

Shell unveils green strategy after oil output peak

Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell declared Thursday that its oil output is locked in decline after peaking in 2019 as it outlined green plans to switch away from fossil fuels.

Shell said in a statement that it will invest up to $6.0 billion (4.9 billion euros) per year in green energy projects developing and promoting biofuels, electric car charging and renewables.

More than half the amount could end up being spent on marketing, Shell said.

In addition, Shell plans to still invest $8 billion annually on new oil and gas exploration. read more

Big Oil’s future could be smaller than its past

Paul Takahashi, Staff writer: Feb. 6, 2021

Oil companies have crisscrossed the world for more than a century, drilling on nearly every continent and in ever deeper oceans to prospect for fossil fuels that power the global economy.

While they did, the biggest six or seven companies collectively known as Big Oil reshaped international politics and economies, bending them to their will. Oil executives became statesmen in their own right, negotiating deals with foreign leaders to extract oil from the tar sands of Canada, the deserts of the Middle East, off the coasts of South America and Africa and in the shale formations of the U.S. read more

Aviva will use its ‘ultimate sanction’ to force action on global warming

Attracta Mooney: 31 Jan 2021

One of Britain’s top asset managers has warned it will use the “ultimate sanction” and ditch stakes in 30 of the world’s largest oil, gas, mining and utilities companies unless they do more to tackle climate change. Aviva declined to name the companies it is targeting. But it is a big shareholder in many of the world’s largest oil, gas and mining companies, with its holdings worth billions of pounds. According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, it is a top 30 shareholder in oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell… read more

THE SUNDAY TIMES

Church fund ditches stake in oil giant BP

Jamie Nimmo: 24 Jan 2021. Page 2, Business Section.

The Church of England has sold its stake in BP, even as the oil giant moves to end its reliance on fossil fuels under new boss Bernard Looney.

The Church Commissioners, which manages the Church’s £8.7bn fund, is understood to have offloaded its stake in the FTSE 100 stalwart last year.

It is a significant move because the Church is the country’s most high-profile ethical investor and has been pushing BP to commit to cutting its carbon footprint to ret zero by 2050. read more

Exxon, Shell Face Rating Cuts on Greater Climate Risk, S&P Says

Javier Blas and Laura Hurst: Tue, January 26, 2021, 5:08 PM

(Bloomberg) — Big Oil suffered a fresh setback after one of the most influential rating companies warned it may cut the credit score of Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc and a plethora of other major energy companies due to “greater industry risk” associated with climate change.

The move by S&P Global Ratings comes as the oil and gas industry is on the ropes, unloved by equity investors and facing pressure from multiple policy makers after U.S. President Joe Biden put climate change at the center of his agenda. read more

Big Oil hits brakes on search for new fossil fuels

By Ron Bousso: JANUARY 25, 2021

Acquisitions of new onshore and offshore exploration licences for the top five Western energy giants dropped to the lowest in at least five years, data from Oslo-based consultancy Rystad Energy showed.

The number of exploration licensing rounds dropped last year due to the epidemic while companies including Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and France’s Total also reduced spending, Rystad Energy analyst Palzor Shenga said. read more

Questor: profit warnings, dividend cut and share price fall – Shell has all a contrarian could want

Questor share tip: oil stocks have been laid low by the slump in crude prices – but such weakness sows the seeds of its own demise

After all, here we have a company that has issued profit warnings, seen the price of its core products collapse, cut its dividend for the first time in several decades and suffered a share price plunge. What is not to like, from the point of view of a dyed-in-the-wool contrarian?  read more

Translation of an article published 22 Dec 2020 by the Dutch Financial newspaper, the FD. 

The man who terrifies Unilever and Shell

…it turned out that Shell, Philips and Akzo, among others, did not pay profit tax in the Netherlands, to the indignation of Snels. Now that the cabinet has adopted its ‘Shell law’, that detour has been closed on 1 January.

Lisa van der Velden Ulko Jonker 22 Dec.2020

In the past six months, GroenLinks MP Bart Snels played a cat-and-mouse game with food giant Unilever. But then the cat packed up and moved to the UK. While the game has not yet been played, as far as Snels is concerned. “I thought Unilever would be wise.” read more

New York Becomes The First State To Divest From Oil And Gas

09/12/2020 13:10 GMT | Updated 09/12/2020 14:54 GMT

The Empire State’s pension fund is the largest to dump fossil fuel investments ― ever, in the entire world.

New York state announced plans on Wednesday to eject oil and gas stocks from its $226 billion financial portfolio, becoming the first U.S. state and the biggest pension fund anywhere to divest from fossil fuels.

By 2025, the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which disburses some $1 billion in benefits to retirees each year, will sell off its “riskiest” oil and gas stocks, following a review. The state aims to completely eliminate carbon polluters from its portfolio by 2040. read more

Shell Climate Change Ads Axed From Facebook

Greg Winterton: 16 November 2020

Extracts

Some Shell advertisements, including for its electric vehicle-charging firm Greenlots, have been removed from Facebook over concerns around transparency of environmental policies and climate change.

Shell’s advertisements – part of rebranding efforts to place emphasis on its renewable energy divisions – were labelled as sponsored, but did not include a disclaimer stating they were paid for by the firm.  read more

Will Shell’s share price ever recover?

Edward Sheldon, CFA: Tue, 10 November 2020, 7:22 am GMT·

It’s fair to say 2020 has been a challenging year for Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB) investors. As a result of Covid-19, and the subsequent drop in demand for oil, Shell’s share price has plummeted. Year to date, shares in the FTSE 100 oil major are down about 50%.

Can Shell’s share price recover? I think it’s possible. That said, there are a few things that need to happen for the FTSE 100 oil stock to rebound. read more

Sneaky online censorship move by Shell Climate Change VP John MacArthur

When I revisited MacArthur’s Linkedin page yesterday, I discovered that all trace of his remarks and the adverse comments they had attracted have vanished.

By John Donovan

John MacArthur leads Shell’s Group Carbon strategy, climate change and energy policy and carbon innovation. See screenshot below downloaded on 06 Nov 2020 from here

John is not having a good week.

A few days ago he posted comments on his Linkedin page promoting Shell’s new climate change campaign on social media. read more