Shell accelerates drive for net-zero emissions
Shell today set out its strategy to accelerate its transformation into a provider of net-zero emissions energy products and services, powered by growth in its customer-facing businesses. A disciplined cash allocation framework and rigorous approach to driving down carbon emissions will deliver value for shareholders, customers and wider society. Shell also confirmed its expectation that total carbon emissions for the company peaked in 2018, and oil production peaked in 2019.
“Our accelerated strategy will drive down carbon emissions and will deliver value for our shareholders, our customers and wider society,” said Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Officer, Ben van Beurden.
“We must give our customers the products and services they want and need – products that have the lowest environmental impact. At the same time, we will use our established strengths to build on our competitive portfolio as we make the transition to be a net-zero emissions business in step with society. “Whether our customers are motorists, households or businesses, we will use our global scale and trusted brand to grow in markets where demand for cleaner products and services is strongest, delivering more predictable cash flows and generating higher returns.”
From today, Shell is integrating its strategy, portfolio, environmental and social ambitions under the goals of Powering Progress: generating shareholder value, achieving net-zero emissions, powering lives and respecting nature. Shell’s reshaped organisation will deliver on these goals through the three business pillars of Growth, Transition and Upstream.
FINANCIAL RESILIENCE AND PROFITABLE GROWTH THROUGH DISCIPLINED CAPITAL ALLOCATION
Shell reiterated its cash priorities to deliver value for shareholders today while growing value for tomorrow, including:
- Maintain the progressive dividend policy, increasing dividend per share by around 4% per year, subject to Board approval.
- Retain near-term annual Cash capital expenditure of $19-22 billion.
- Reduce net debt to $65 billion.
- On reducing net debt to $65 billion, target total shareholder distributions of 20-30% of cash flow from operations; increased shareholder distributions achieved through a combination of Shell’s progressive dividends and share buybacks.
- Disciplined and measured capital expenditure growth balanced with additional shareholder distributions and further strengthening of our balance sheet.
In the near term we expect to maintain underlying operating expenses of no higher than $35 billion, and pursue divestments averaging $4 billion a year. Over time the balance of capital spending will shift towards the businesses in the Growth pillar, attracting around half of the additional capital spend. Cash flow will follow the same trend and in the long term will become less exposed to oil and gas prices, with a stronger link to broader economic growth.
THE ROAD TO NET-ZERO EMISSIONS: A COMPREHENSIVE CARBON MANAGEMENT APPROACH
Shell set out details of how it will achieve its target to be a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050, in step with society’s progress towards achieving net zero. This target covers the emissions from our operations and the emissions from the use of all the energy products we sell. And crucially, it includes emissions from the oil and gas that others produce and Shell then sells as products to customers, making the target comprehensive.
Powering Progress supports the most ambitious goal of the Paris Agreement on climate change to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5° Celsius. To achieve net zero, Shell:
- will continue with short-term targets that will drive down carbon emissions as we make progress towards our 2050 target, linked to the remuneration of more than 16,500 staff. This includes a new set of targets to reduce our net carbon intensity: 6-8% by 2023, 20% by 2030, 45% by 2035 and 100% by 2050, using a baseline of 2016;
- expects that its total carbon emissions peaked in 2018 at 1.7 gigatonnes per annum;
- confirms that its total oil production peaked in 2019;
- will seek to have access to an additional 25 million tonnes a year of carbon, capture and storage (CCS) capacity by 2035. Currently, three key CCS projects of which Shell is a part, Quest in Canada (in operation), Northern Lights in Norway (sanctioned) and Porthos in The Netherlands (planned), will total around 4.5 million tonnes of capacity;
- aims to use nature-based solutions (NBS), in line with the philosophy of avoid, reduce and only then mitigate, to offset emissions of around 120 million tonnes a year by 2030, with those we use being of the highest independently verified quality;
- will work with the Science Based Targets Initiative, Transition Pathway Initiative and others to develop standards for the industry and align with those standards;
- starting at the 2021 AGM, submit an Energy Transition Plan for an advisory vote to shareholders, the first in the sector to do so. We will update that plan every three years and seek an advisory vote on the progress made each year.
Information Source: Read Full Release ..–> DELIVERING WITH A PORTFOLIO FOR THE ENERGY TRANSITION
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