At Shell’s tense annual general meeting held in London today, more than a fifth of the shareholders voted against the company’s climate strategy.
During the three-hour meeting, the board encountered intense interactions with both investors and protesters. Shell reported that 21.8% of the shareholder votes opposed the management’s current strategy.
Additionally, a resolution from the Dutch activist group Follow This, urging the board to align decarbonization targets with the Paris Climate Agreement’s goals, received 18.6% of the votes. Despite this resolution being co-filed by a record 27 institutional investors, the support decreased from 20.2% in 2023.
This AGM marked the first since Shell revised its climate targets last year, scaling back on several short-term and medium-term objectives.
Chairman Sir Andrew Mackenzie defended Shell’s climate stance, highlighting the company’s commitment to achieving net zero by 2050 and outlining the anticipated transitions in the energy system over the coming decades.
He emphasized the ongoing importance of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and oil in the energy transition, stating, “While it might be tempting to stop using oil and gas before the world is ready, we must not do so at the expense of the energy needs and aspirations of a growing global population.”
