Royal Dutch Shell: Publish Paris Aligned Targets
Resolution at 2019 AGM of Royal Dutch Shell plc (“the company”)
SPECIAL RESOLUTION
Coordinated by Follow This
Shareholders request the company to set and publish targets that are aligned with the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement to limit global warming to well below 2°C.
These targets need at least to cover the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of the company’s operations and the use of its energy products (Scope 1, 2, and 3), and to be intermediate and long-term.
We request that the company base these targets on quantitative metrics such as GHG intensity metrics (GHG emissions per unit of energy) or other quantitative metrics that the company deem suitable to align their targets with a well-below-2°C pathway.
Shareholders request that annual reporting include information about plans and progress to achieve these targets (at reasonable cost and omitting proprietary information).
Supporting Statement
The oil and gas industry can make or break the goal of the Paris Climate Agreement. Therefore, oil and gas companies need the support of their shareholders to change course: first to align their targets with the Paris Climate Agreement, and second to invest accordingly in the energy transition to a net-zero-emission energy system.
Fiduciary duty
We, the shareholders, understand this support to be our fiduciary duty. A growing international consensus has emerged among financial institutions that achieving the goal of Paris is essential to risk management and responsible stewardship of the world economy. Institutional investors foresee that they cannot make a decent return on capital in a world economy disrupted by devastating climate change.
Net-zero emissions
The goal of the Paris Climate Agreement is to limit global warming to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, to aim for a global net-zero-emission energy system, and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C. In 2018, the IPCC emphasized that to limit global warming to 1.5°C, CO2 emissions must reach net zero by 2050.
Scope 3
Emissions from energy products (Scope 3) are crucial in the Paris Climate Agreement, and we therefore support you to include these in your targets. In 2017, Royal Dutch Shell plc set the example by including Scope 3 in their ambition to halve their carbon intensity by 2050. However, this ambition is not in line with a well-below-2°C pathway. This climate resolution reflects our belief that we need targets that are truly aligned with a well-below-2°C pathway across the whole energy sector.
We therefore encourage the company to set targets that are inspirational for society, employees, and shareholders, allowing the company to meet increasing demand for energy while reducing GHG emissions to levels compatible with the global intergovernmental consensus specified by the Paris Climate Agreement.
Resolution Details
Company:
Royal Dutch Shell, plc
Lead Filer: Follow This
Year: 2019
Filing Date:
November 2018
Initiative(s): Climate Change
Status: Resolution Withdrawn