Shell sets oil sector's broadest carbon reduction plans

(Reuters, 16 Apr 2020) Shell says society's shifting expectations around climate change have shaped its aim to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 or sooner.

Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday deepened its ambition to battle climate change, setting the oil and gas sector's broadest plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

The new climate goals put the Anglo-Dutch company - at least on paper - ahead of the most progressive of its rivals, including BP and Italy's Eni.

"Society's expectations have shifted quickly in the debate around climate change," Chief Executive Officer Ben van Beurden said in a statement.

"Shell now needs to go further with our own ambitions, which is why we aim to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 or sooner." 

Shell said it plans to fully offset carbon emissions from its own oil and gas production by 2050, in what is known as Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.

Those emissions do not include the much larger category of greenhouse gases emitted from fuels and products it sells to customers such as jet fuel and gasoline, known as Scope 3.

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Reuters, 16 Apr 2020: Shell sets oil sector's broadest carbon reduction plans