Strong progress towards net zero

In 2021 we set targets to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050. So how are we doing? In this article, I set out our strong progress.

A year ago, we launched our Powering Progress strategy and set short- and medium-term climate targets for Shell towards becoming a net-zero emission energy business by 2050. Our shareholders overwhelmingly supported this strategy.

This year, we will ask our shareholders to vote on the progress we have made. And today, we have published our Energy Transition Progress Report showing that we are delivering on our targets.

This report comes during the ongoing war in Ukraine, which has caused incredible suffering and grief. It has also led to rising energy prices and uncertainty about supplies, which has shown that affordable, secure, and reliable energy must be protected and managed. Accelerating the transition to low- and zero-carbon energy helps to ensure security of energy supplies. This is what we have been doing at Shell.

We are making significant progress in a long-term plan. Crucially, we have set a new target to reduce absolute emissions under our operational control by 50% by 2030, compared with 2016 on a net basis. By the end of 2021, we had achieved a reduction of 18%. We also achieved our short-term target to reduce the net carbon intensity of the energy products we sell by 2-3% by the end of 2021, compared with 2016 as well.

We took steps to help us deliver more progress in the future. To start, we gave the company more flexibility. We restructured the business, simplified our share structure and moved Shell’s headquarters from the Netherlands to the UK, so we can respond more quickly to changes.

We also continued to build the low-carbon businesses of the future. We are transforming our refining business into energy and chemicals parks that can meet our customers’ growing demand for low-carbon energy. We are investing in low- and zero-carbon products such as renewable electricity from solar and wind, hydrogen, biofuels and chemicals. We are building a leading hydrogen business. We have started operating electrolysers in Germany and China that use renewable electricity to make hydrogen. As a result, we now operate 10% of the world’s total electrolyser capacity.

We are already one of the world’s largest producers of biofuels through our joint venture in Brazil. And last year we started building one of Europe’s biggest biofuels facilities. We also increased the number of charge points for electric vehicles to almost 90,000 in 2021, from around 60,000 in 2020, well on the way towards achieving our aim of operating more than 500,000 by 2025.

Crucially, we are working sector by sector to identify the low- and zero-carbon products and services that our customers need. We are laying the foundations for future expansion. At the beginning of 2022, for example, with our joint-venture partners, we won bids to develop 5 gigawatts of floating wind power in the UK. That is enough to power 6 million homes, more than double the number of households in Scotland.

So, thanks to our strategy, we are moving in the right direction and transforming Shell. For this reason, if you are a shareholder, I encourage you to vote for Resolution 20 on May 24, during the Annual General Meeting, in support of our progress towards our targets and milestones as we accelerate towards net zero.

If you want to read more on our Energy Transition Progress Report, visit shell.com .