Shell consultant quits, accusing agency of ‘excessive harms’ to environment | Shell

A senior safety guide has quit working with Shell after 11 years, accusing the fossil gas producer in a bombshell public video of inflicting “extreme harms” to the atmosphere.

Caroline Dennett claimed Shell had a “disregard for local weather change risks” and urged others within the oil and gas industry to “walk away whereas there’s still time”.

The manager, who works for the unbiased company Clout, ended her working relationship with Shell in an open letter to its executives and 1,400 staff. In an accompanying video, posted on LinkedIn, she mentioned she had give up because of Shell’s “double-talk on local weather”.

Dennett accused the oil and gas firm of “operating beyond the design limits of our planetary techniques” and “not putting environmental safety earlier than production”.

She said: “Shell’s said safety ambition is to ‘do no harm’ – ‘Purpose Zero’, they call it – and it sounds honourable however they are utterly failing on it.

“They know that continued oil and fuel extraction causes excessive harms, to our climate, to our environment and to folks. And whatever they are saying, Shell is solely not winding down on fossil fuels.”

Dennett instructed the Guardian she “could not marry these conflicts with my conscience”, including: “I couldn't carry that any longer, and I’m able to deal with the results.”

Shell was a “main client” of Dennett’s business, which specialises in evaluating safety procedures in high-risk industries together with oil and fuel manufacturing. She began working with Shell in the aftermath of BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, which rocked the industry.

“I can not work for a corporation that ignores all the alarms and dismisses the dangers of local weather change and ecological collapse,” she said. “Because, contrary to Shell’s public expressions round net zero, they are not winding down on oil and gasoline, however planning to explore and extract much more.”

Dennett – a felony justice graduate who has spent her profession in analysis and consultancy – was impressed to stop working with Shell after watching news footage of Extinction Rebel local weather protesters urging the company’s employees to go away. The motion’s TruthTeller whistleblowing venture encourages oil and fuel workers to stroll away from the business.

The guide, who runs inner security surveys and relies in Weymouth, Dorset, acknowledged she was “privileged” to have the ability to walk away and “many people working in fossil fuel companies just aren’t so fortunate”.

She urged Shell’s executives to “look in the mirror and ask themselves if they really imagine their imaginative and prescient for extra oil and gasoline extraction secures a protected future for humanity”.

In late 2020, several Shell executives in its clean vitality sector left amid reports they have been annoyed on the tempo of Shell’s shift towards greener fuels.

Her announcement comes on the eve of Shell’s AGM in London on Tuesday. Its plans to reduce emissions will be discussed on the meeting the place the Dutch activist group Follow This will push for the corporate’s policies to be more in keeping with the Paris local weather accord. Shell’s board has instructed traders to reject the group’s resolution that asks it to set more stringent local weather targets.

The Shell investor Royal London has stated it intends to abstain on a vote on the firm’s climate transition proposals.

The Shell chief executive, Ben van Beurden, might experience an investor rebel in opposition to his £13.5m pay packet at the AGM after the funding adviser Pirc urged a vote in opposition to it.

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A Shell spokesperson mentioned: “Be in little doubt, we're decided to ship on our world technique to be a web zero firm by 2050 and 1000's of our individuals are working arduous to attain this. We've got set targets for the brief, medium and long term, and have each intention of hitting them.

“We’re already investing billions of dollars in low-carbon vitality, although the world will nonetheless want oil and gasoline for decades to come in sectors that may’t be easily decarbonised.”

Shell additionally faces the prospect of a possible windfall tax to fund cuts to family bills after the power business reported bumper earnings fuelled by the increase in market prices, prompting opposition events to call on the government to herald a one-off levy.

On Monday, the most important oil and gasoline producer within the North Sea spoke out in opposition to a one-off levy, arguing it would lead to the trade approving fewer initiatives.

Harbour Power’s chief government, Linda Prepare dinner, informed the Financial Times: “A higher tax burden will make it more challenging for brand spanking new oil and fuel tasks to fulfill investment hurdle charges, meaning fewer initiatives can be sanctioned.

“That is at a time when business is being encouraged to extend home UK oil and gasoline manufacturing and support an orderly energy transition.”

Harbour has advised the government it plans to invest $6bn within the North Sea over three years as industry makes its case towards the tax. The Guardian revealed this month that Cook dinner had obtained a £4.6m “golden good day” from the firm.