Strong Progress Towards Net Zero for Shell

Shell published its Energy Transition Progress Report 2021 detailing the company’s progress over the past year. This report will be put to shareholders for an advisory vote at the Annual General Meeting on 24 May 2022.

“In a time of great uncertainty, it is vital that our long-term energy transition strategy remains on track,” said Ben van Beurden, Shell’s Chief Executive Officer. “This report shows the strong progress we have made towards our target to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050.”

This progress includes critical investment decisions in the production of low-carbon fuels, solar and wind power, and hydrogen, and significant changes to Shell’s Upstream and refinery portfolios. The company has also simplified its share structure and moved its headquarters to the UK from the Netherlands.

In 2021, Shell continued to work with customers across sectors, from aviation to marine and road freight, forming more than 50 collaborations with other leading companies.

Today’s publication shows Shell’s progress against concrete climate goals. Last year, the company set a new target to reduce absolute emissions from its operations and the energy it uses to run them by 50% by 2030, compared with 2016 on a net basis. By the end of 2021, Shell had made a reduction of 18%.

Shell also achieved its short-term target to reduce the net carbon intensity of the energy products it sells by 2-3% by the end of 2021, compared with 2016 as well. The company is now working towards a 9-12% reduction in net carbon intensity by 2024, and a 20% reduction by 2030, both compared with 2016.

“We are helping our customers to identify and use low- and zero-carbon alternatives to the energy products they have used for many decades,” said Andrew Mackenzie, Shell Chair. “We see great business opportunities for Shell in the fast-growing low- and zero-carbon markets where we are well-positioned to provide the different products and solutions our customers need.”

Shell’s energy transition strategy was put to an advisory shareholder vote at the Annual General Meeting in 2021 where it secured around 89% of the vote. This year, Shell is asking shareholders to vote on its progress, as it will do every year until 2050. The vote on progress is purely advisory and not binding on shareholders.

Cautionary note

The companies in which Shell plc, directly and indirectly, own investments are separate legal entities. In this announcement “Shell”, “Shell Group” and “Group” are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or entities. “Subsidiaries”, “Shell subsidiaries” and “Shell companies” as used in this announcement refer to entities over which Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as “joint ventures” and “joint operations”, respectively. “Joint ventures” and “joint operations” are collectively referred to as “joint arrangements”. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control is referred to as “associates”. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in an entity or unincorporated joint arrangement, after exclusion of all third-party interest. 

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning its financial condition, results of operations, and businesses of Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance, or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Shell to market risks and statements expressing management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections, and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as “aim”, “ambition”, “anticipate”, “believe”, “could”, “estimate”, “expect”, “goals”, “intend”, “may”, “milestones”, “objectives”, “outlook”, “plan”, “probably”, “project”, “risks”, “schedule”, “seek”, “should”, “target”, “will” and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this announcement, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell’s products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, judicial, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; (m) risks associated with the impact of pandemics, such as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak; and (n) changes in trading conditions. No assurance is provided that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. The contents of the websites referred to in this announcement do not form part of this announcement. All forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Shell plc’s Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2021 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this announcement and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement, April 20, 2022. Neither Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events, or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied, or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement. 

Shell’s net carbon footprint

Also, in this announcement, we may refer to Shell’s “Net Carbon Footprint” or “Net Carbon Intensity”, which includes Shell’s carbon emissions from the production of our energy products, our suppliers’ carbon emissions in supplying energy for that production and our customers’ carbon emissions associated with their use of the energy products we sell. Shell only controls its own emissions. The use of the term Shell’s “Net Carbon Footprint” or “Net Carbon Intensity” is for convenience only and is not intended to suggest these emissions are those of Shell plc or its subsidiaries.

Shell’s net-Zero Emissions Target

Shell’s operating plan, outlook, and budgets are forecasted for a ten-year period and are updated every year. They reflect the current economic environment and what we can reasonably expect to see over the next ten years. Accordingly, they reflect our Scope 1, Scope 2, and Net Carbon Footprint (NCF) targets over the next ten years. However, Shell’s operating plans cannot reflect our 2050 net-zero emissions target and 2035 NCF target, as these targets are currently outside our planning period. In the future, as society moves towards net-zero emissions, we expect Shell’s operating plans to reflect this movement. However, if society is not net zero in 2050, as of today, there would be a significant risk that Shell may not meet this target.

Forward-Looking Non-GAAP measures

This announcement may contain certain forward-looking non-GAAP measures such as cash capital expenditure and divestments. We are unable to provide a reconciliation of these forward-looking Non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures because certain information needed to reconcile those Non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures is dependent on future events some of which are outside the control of Shell, such as oil and gas prices, interest rates and exchange rates. Moreover, estimating such GAAP measures with the required precision necessary to provide a meaningful reconciliation is extremely difficult and could not be accomplished without unreasonable effort. Non-GAAP measures in respect of future periods which cannot be reconciled to the most comparable GAAP financial measure are calculated in a manner that is consistent with the accounting policies applied in Shell plc’s consolidated financial statements. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov.

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